
UNIVERSITY FARM 



A6 



THE INSTRUCTOR 
THE MAN AND THE JOB 

CHARLES R. ALLEN 

FOURTH IMPRESSION 



THE INSTRUCTOR 
THE MAN AND THE JOB 

A HAND BOOK FOR INSTRUCTORS 

OF INDUSTRIAL AND VOCATIONAL 

SUBJECTS 



BY 

CHARLES R. ALLEN 

SOMETIME AGENT FOR INDUSTRIAL TRAINING OF BOYS AND MEN, MASSA- 
CHUSETTS BOARD OF EDUCATION, AND SUPERINTENDENT OF INSTRUCTOR 
TRAINING, U. S. S. B. EMERGENCY FLEET CORPORATION 




PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON 
J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 



COPYRIGHT, 1919, BY J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 






SET UP AND PRINTED IN UNITED STATES 



PREFACE 

FOR a long time men in trades and industries have been 
imparting what they knew to learners, and in order to do this 
some sort of an instructing process has been carried on. 

It is equally true that for a long time those whose business 
it was to impart knowledge, have been learning how to teach, 
that is, they have been learning the principles and practices 
of the teaching trade. 

Since the industrial instructor has usually stuck to his shop 
and the teacher has stuck to his school, the body of knowledge, 
experience, and skill in the teaching trade has not been avail- 
able to the trade instructor, so that, in general, trade instruc- 
tion in industry and in vocational schools has been carried on 
without the advantage of the use of the teacher's trade. 

Just as in any other trade, there are in the teaching trade 
"operations," "tools," equipment and methods that have 
been found most effective in putting things over from the 
instructor to the learner. Information regarding them has not, 
however, generally been accessible to the industrial instructor, 
because it has been confined to professional teachers and em- 
bodied in educational publications which are not likely to come 
to the attention of the mechanic. 

Moreover, where such publications have come to his atten- 
tion he has found them hard to understand and their contents 
difficult to apply, since they are written for the use of teachers 
in general schools. 

Training courses for vocational instructors where they have 
been established have aimed at meeting this difficulty by 
presenting the principles and practices of the teaching trade 
in such a manner that industrial instructors could apply them 
in their own special line of instruction, but in many cases 
trade instructors are unable to avail themselves of the oppor- 
tunities offered by these courses. 

469803 



iv PREFACE 

This book is intended, therefore, to serve two purposes 
to serve as a handbook to instructors in industrial plants, and 
also to serve as "instruction notes" in instructor training 
courses. 

The material as presented here has been developed out of 
notes originally used in instructor training courses and sub- 
sequently modified for the training of shipyard instructors in 
connection with the instructor training work of the Emergency 
Fleet Corporation under my direction, in which over one 
thousand instructors have been trained. 

The rapid development of trade and industrial training, 
both in vocational schools and in industrial plants, and the 
special development of intensive training due to war condi- 
tions make the trained instructor of greater and greater value 
to American industries. It is hoped that this book may con- 
tribute to the development of efficient training in our voca- 
tional schools and in our industries. If it does, the purpose for 
which it was written will have been accomplished. 

CHARLES R. ALLEN. 

October 1, 1918. 



INTRODUCTION 

THOSE of us most familiar with the work of Mr. Allen have 
long been anxious that he write for publication so that all those 
interested or engaged in industrial education might have the 
benefit of his rich experience and ripened views. This book 
on the preparation of teachers is the first result. Let us hope 
it will be followed by others dealing with the problems of the 
organization and administration of vocational schools with 
which Mr. Allen has been so closely connected for almost two 
decades. 

There are few, if any, men so well qualified as he by experi- 
ence and ability to speak with authority in this field. Person- 
ally, I owe to the author a debt of gratitude I can never repay 
for the help he has given me during the past ten years. He has 
been not only a capable assistant at various times but also 
mentor and guide upon whose keen analysis of problems and 
sound philosophy of vocational education I have long relied. 

Comparisons are always invidious. Nevertheless, I am of 
the opinion that this book is the most important contribution 
yet made to industrial and trade training. It deals with the 
most vital of our problems the proper selection and training 
of competent instructors without which government grants 
and imposing equipment are but sounding brass and tinkling 
cymbals. 

While only principles of pedagogy fundamental to all suc- 
cessful teaching are presented, they are applied to the instruc- 
tion problems of the vocational class with a keenness of analy- 
sis, a wealth of illustration, and a clearness of statement not 
to be found in any other text with which I am acquainted. 
Recognizing that which the War has made apparent to all, 
that large industrial plants as well as schools must in the future 
carry on training for new employes, the text has been prepared 
so that it can be used equally well in the preparation of instruc- 
tors for schools or for industrial plants, most of whose teaching 
problems are common. 



INTRODUCTION 

The book presents not abstract theory but practical methods 
based on sound principles which the author developed in his 
work as a supervisor of teacher training in Massachusetts and 
worked out in the form here given while he was supervising 
training courses for shipyard instructors under the Emergency 
Fleet Corporation of the United States Shipping Board. The 
plan of training, therefore, is not a dream or a guess but a 
demonstrated success. 

Every one interested hi or touching the problems of voca- 
tional education, particularly industrial education in any way, 
needs to read this book. It will help him to think straight as 
well as to train teachers properly. Indeed, all those engaged 
in regular education cannot fail to profit by studying the 
exceedingly clear analysis and discussion of methods of instruc- 
tion where "pedageese" is avoided so that the text may be 
equally readable by all. 

Employers and foremen will gain from Mr. Allen's exceed- 
ingly clear and thorough discussion a conception of the need 
and possibilities of training the new workers of which most of 
them have never dreamed. Perhaps most valuable of all, 
those who believe that regular schools of education can meet 
the needs of shop instructors by the customary courses on 
educational philosophy and method given by those unac- 
quainted with industrial processes and vocational schools, 
will learn from the book that the pedagogy of industrial edu- 
cation has already built up a definite content or courses of its 
own. Those courses can only be taught successfully by 
persons familiar with the organization and processes of both 
industry and the industrial school. 

C. A. PBOSSEB. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PART I 
TRAINING IN THE PLANT 

CHAPTER PAGB 

I. THE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TRAINING . . 3 

II. METHODS OF TRAINING 11 

III. TRAINING ON THE JOB ..... 23 

IV. PICKING THE TRAINING FORCE. 31 



PART II 
THE ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION OF TRADE KNOWLEDGE 

V. THE PRODUCER ANI^ THE INSTRUCTOR . . 37 
VI. THE FIRST OPERATION. THE DETERMINATION 

OF WHAT IS TO BE TAUGHT . . . .42 

VII. THE CLASSIFICATION OF WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 46 
VIII. THE DETERMINATION OF "BLOCKS" . . 64 

PART III 
ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER 

IX. THE DETERMINATION OF LEARNING DIFFICULTIES 77 

X. ESTABLISHING A DIFFICULTY SCALE. . . 85 

XI. APPLYING THE DIFFICULTY SCALE ... 88 
XII. GETTING JOBS INTO AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL 

ORDER .92 

XIII. TYING UP THE AUXILIARY INFORMATION WITH THE 

JOB INSTRUCTION 97 

XIV. GETTING THE JOBS IN MORE THAN ONE BLOCK INTO 

AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER , . 106 



vi TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PART IV 
PUTTING IT OVER 

CHAPTER PACK 

XV. THE TRADE INSTRUCTOR . . . .117 
XVI. WHAT INSTRUCTION is . . . .121 
XVII. THE INSTRUCTING OPERATION . . .126 
XVIII. DETAILED DISCUSSION OF STEPS IN THE 

LESSON. STEP 1 132 

XIX. DETAILED DISCUSSION OF STEPS IN THE 

LESSON. STEP 2 136 

XX. DETAILED DISCUSSION STEP 3 . . 139 

XXI. DETAILED DISCUSSION. STEP 4 . .141 

XXII. SECURING TRADE INTELLIGENCE . . 143 

PART V 
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION 

XXIII. METHODS FOR STEP 1 .... 147 

XXIV. METHODS FOR STEP 2 . . . .151 

XXV. METHODS FOR STEP 3 . . . .158 

XXVI. METHODS FOR STEP 4 . . . . 16,3 

XXVII. INFORMATIONAL AND DEVELOPMENT LINES OF 

APPROACH . . . . . . 165 

XXVIII. THE TECHNICAL LESSON AND THE PRODUC- 
TION LESSON . . . . 169 

PART VI 
LESSON PLANNING 

XXIX. LESSON PLANNING 177 

XXX. AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF A 

LESSON ...... 184 

PART VII 
INSTRUCTIONAL MANAGEMENT 

XXXI. SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF THE INSTRUCTOR . 205 
XXXII. ORGANIZATION FOR HANDLING DIFFERENT 

TYPES OF INSTRUCTION . . . .210 
XXXIII. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL 

GANG . . 219 



TABLE OF CONTENTS vii 

CHAPTER p AGB 

XXXIV. INSTRUCTIONAL CONDITIONS AS THEY ARE 
AFFECTED BY SURROUNDINGS AND MA- 
TERIAL ...... 235 

XXXV. How SURROUNDINGS AFFECT INSTRUCTION. 245 
XXXVI. HANDLING THE GANG FOR EFFECTIVE IN- 
STRUCTION. ..... 248 

XXXVII. INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS . . 257 

PART VIII 
ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING IN INDUSTRY 

XXXVIII. THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING . . 287 

XXXIX. INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKKEEPING . . . 304 

XL. TRAINING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES. . 319 

XLI. APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING . . . 334 

XLII. THE " COLD STORAGE " vs. THE APPLICATION 

THEORY 336 

XLIII. THE RELATIVE ORDER OF THEORY AND 

PRACTICE 342 

XLIV. THE SHORT UNIT COURSE . . .347 

PART IX 

THE USE OF THIS MATERIAL IN INSTRUCTOR TRAINING 

COURSES 

XLV. THE USE OF THIS MATERIAL IN INSTRUC- 
TOR TRAINING COURSES . . .351 

APPENDIX 

A. THE USE OF THIS MATERIAL BY FOREMEN . .361 
B. THE USE OF THIS MATERIAL FOR SELF-TRAINING 363 
C. SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT TERMS USED . 365 



PART I 
TRAINING IN THE PLANT 



CHAPTER I 
THE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TRAINING 

This book deals with three factors in efficient production 
the instructor, the man, and the job. The instructor, because 
it is through effective instruction that we can secure efficiency 
in training. The man, because when properly trained he does 
the best work. The job, because production efficiency comes 
from well instructed men doing good jobs. 

Therefore it deals with the question of effectively training 
green men or "learners'* and with other forms of training for 
production work. It points out some ways by which learners 
can be trained most rapidly and trained to do their work in the 
best way through the application of definite principles to 
training problems. One of the most important points in 
effective training is to see that the men who are used as in- 
structors really know how to "put over'* what they know, 
hence, a considerable portion of this book is given over to a 
description of how such a man can organize his trade knowledge 
for effective instruction, how he can effectively plan his in- 
struction work, and how he can best handle his men under 
instructing conditions. The organization under which such a 
man can work to the best advantage is discussed and an effec- 
tive type is described. 

To avoid any misunderstanding it should be stated here that 
this book does not deal in any way with trade processes, or 
with technical training. It assumes that, whether the training 
is given in a school shop or in the plant itself, the instructor 
is thoroughly equipped so far as knowing how to do his job 
is concerned. It deals solely with instruction, not with pro- 
duction, except so far as effective training functions in better 
production and greater output which it does. 

An appendix contains suggestions as to the use of this 
material by men in industry who desire to become better 

3 



4 : ;/: THE; INSTRUCTOR 

instructors and to those who may undertake to use it in 
"Instructor Training Courses.'* 

The Possible Field of Training. In any production plant 
the product is got out by a number of people who are em- 
ployed on a variety of jobs. These jobs may range from 
highly skilled to unskilled jobs. The variety of jobs to 
which effective methods of training can be applied is much 
greater than is generally supposed. In the past it has fre- 
quently been considered that only jobs in the so-called skilled 
trades were worth training for. More recent study has shown 
that there are very few industrial operations or semi-skilled 
jobs for which definite training is not of value. In general, 
it may be said that a job is worth training for if it presents 
these characteristics : 

(1) Anybody cannot learn to do the job. That is, in 
training, it is found that certain natural qualifications count, 
as quickness, neatness, a good eye, physical strength, weight, 
etc. 

(2) The trade recognizes jobs of different degrees of 
difficulty in the same line as, for example, in machine 
shop work or in making paper boxes there are recognized 
"grades" of jobs. 

(3) There is a best way of doing the job. 

(4) It is recognized that an appreciable period of time is 
required for a learner to reach maximum efficiency in other 
words, a man cannot do the job as well the first time as he 
can after a period of practice. 

There are but few jobs that do not meet these conditions. 
The training discussed in this book has in mind training on 
such jobs as well as in skilled trades. 

The Necessity for Training. Whether a new man comes into 
the shop from another shop of the same kind, or from a trade 
resembling the trade that he takes up, or comes in absolutely 
green, he needs a greater or less amount of "breaking in"- 
that is, he needs training. Of course, what he needs and how 
much he needs depends on what his new job is and how much 
he knows, already, but he always needs something put over to 
him if he is to do his new job as well as it should be done. 



THE PRINCIPLES OP EFFECTIVE TRAINING 5 

Somebody has to put this over to him, and, to that extent, that 
somebody is just as truly an instructor, a teacher, as if he were 
a "regular" teacher in a school. After all, a teacher is only 
somebody whose business it is to put things over to teach. 
Teaching is therefore always going on in any shop. It is a 
necessary part of the carrying on of the work, because (while it 
would be an ideal condition if it were possible) it is impossible 
for any shop to keep going by only employing men who know 
how to do the work and especially men experienced in doing the 
work of that particular shop. There will always be some turn- 
over. Men will drop out for one reason or another and other 
men must be employed to fill their places. So instruction, or 
training, must go on all the time. In some way, the new men 
that come in must learn how to do the work, and this training 
process must be carried on in addition to the production work 
for which the shop is established and operated. 

The Best Situation. If this training process has to be 
carried on somehow we would have the best conditions if: 

(1) Each man were trained so that he could do his job in 
the best possible way. 

(2) Each man were trained to do his job in the least time 
compatible with thorough training. 

(3) The experiences of each man during the training period 
had been such that he stayed through the training period and 
did not quit when only partly trained. 

If he is trained so that he can do a first class job that is 
evidently the best proposition both for him and for the shop. 
A man who is thoroughly "onto his job" and knows it is less 
likely to quit, makes better money, spoils less stock. What- 
ever time and effort may have been spent in training him is 
certainly a better investment and is likely to be a more per- 
manent one. 

The less time taken to train him, provided he is well trained, 
the quicker he gets up to full production capacity. This again 
is both to his advantage and to the advantage of the shop. 

If his experiences in training are disagreeable, if he is con- 
tinually "bawled out," if he feels that he is not "catching on," 
if he knows that he is not "getting on," if he is "guyed" by 



6 THE INSTRUCTOR 

the regular workmen as a "greenie" he is very likely to quit 
and hunt another job. In such a case, the shop has not only 
lost a man, but has lost whatever training the learner had got up 
to the time that he quit. The value of this training lost in the 
turnover is greater than is generally realized. 

Training an Overhead Charge on the Shop. However it is 
handled, training costs money. This money makes an over- 
head charge on the shop. The more this overhead charge 
can be kept down and men still properly trained the better: 
but this overhead cost cannot be "ducked, " it is there whether 
one sees it or whether one doesn't. The problem is to make 
this overhead cost as small as possible and still do a good 
training job. In order to get a line on how to do this it is 
necessary to know what items affect the training cost. 

In many cases both shops and men are losing money because 
an unnecessary amount of time is spent in training, because 
the training as given is not scientifically planned and put over, 
because, under the conditions, much training is lost in turn- 
over, and because many learners never learn how to do a 
really first class job. 

Some Factors in the Overhead Training Cost. Among the 
more important factors tending to increase the overhead train- 
ing cost are: 

(1) Turning out second class men because no precau- 
tions were taken to see that the learners were trained only 
by first class men. 

(2) Taking too little time to train a man properly because 
it was nobody's business to follow him up and check him up 
to see that he was properly trained. 

(3) Allowing him to continue in training after he is trained, 
and knows or thinks that he can do " as good a job as any other 
fellow" resulting in discontent and an increased turnover. 

(4) Putting improperly trained men onto regular production 
work because no training standards have been established. 

(5) Accepting for training, men who are not fitted for 
that particular sort of work or continuing to train them 
after it has become evident that they are unfitted for work 
in that particular line. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TRAINING 7 

Turning out Second Class Men. How can a man that does 
not know how to do a job himself teach another man to do it? 
How can a man who is only a second class man train a green 
man into a first class man? It can't be done. In the average 
run of a shop there are men of all grades: some first class, 
some average, some hanging onto the pay roll by the skin of 
their teeth. If the training is "anybody's job" what are the 
chances for a given learner to get his training from a first class 
man? Even if the new man starts with a poor man and is 
later polished off by a good man, say the foreman, how much 
will he have to unlearn? How much extra trouble will it make? 
How much extra time will it take? That time and trouble 
cost money. The cheapest way is to use only good men for 
training from the start. 

If a second class man trains a second class man and he in 
turn trains a second or more likely turns out a third class man, 
where is the shop headed? Evidently, so far as skill and effi- 
ciency go, it is on the down grade, and the longer this process 
goes on the further down the grade it goes. The whole ten- 
dency is to steadily reduce the level of efficiency. 

On the other hand if the skill and knowledge of only first 
class men is utilized for training, if learners are only trained 
by first class men, then the tendency is to continually raise 
the level of the skill and efficiency of the shop. 

Turning out a Man before he is properly Trained. Unless 
there are definite standards established and somebody sees 
that a learner is trained so that he can meet those standards 
before he is turned out from training, the shop is likely to get 
a good many poor men because they are not fully trained. 
These poor men will go on causing an unnecessary overhead 
cost as long as they are employed. After they- go out onto 
regular production work they are not likely to make up what 
they lack. They are more likely, sooner or later, to quit or 
get fired. In either case, the value of the partial training that 
they did get is lost to the shop. If a training job has to be 
done anyway it pays to do a good job while you are at it. 

Keeping a Man in Training after he is Trained. As already 
pointed out, training costs money somebody must give time 



8 THE INSTRUCTOR 

machines and tools must be used in instruction so long 
as a training process is carried on in any way. Unless the 
training is stopped as soon as a learner is trained so that he can 
do a good job, time and equipment are being spent or tied up 
for no useful purpose. Where the training calls for putting a 
learner through a series of jobs from the easiest to the most 
difficult, it is often thought that it is a paying proposition to 
keep him on a job after he has learned to do it as well and 
quickly as he ever can do it, so as "to get some production 
out of him.'* As a matter of fact the cheapest thing to do is to 
pull him off that job as soon as he can do it and put him onto 
the next one. That is, the cheapest thing to do is to get him 
into the regular production force as soon as possible. As a 
regular man on the job he will get at least as much out of the 
equipment and be a better asset to the shop. If he has been 
properly trained, so far as he is concerned, the overhead cost 
for training has been stopped. In other words, it pays to 
concentrate training; get it done; finish the training job as soon 
as possible and get the training organization and equipment 
at work on some other man. 

Not only does this unnecessarily prolonged training period 
increase overhead costs as just indicated, but, it also tends to 
make the learner discontented. Rightly or wrongly he is liable 
to think that he is being "worked." As a result he is much 
more likely to quit. This also adds to the overhead cost as 
already pointed out. 

Failing to Establish Training Standards. Wherever it can 
be done, failure to establish training standards results in men 
being put on production work by guess instead of through 
exact knowledge that the man is competent. This guesswork 
results either in the learner being held in training too long or 
not long enough. Whatever may constitute "a fair day's 
work " by trade standards should be determined and a man 
trained until he can meet these standards, if the overhead 
cost of training is to be reduced to a minimum. 

Training the Unsuitable Man. Another serious cause of 
unnecessary overhead cost is attempting to train a learner 
without making any attempt to size him up against the re- 



THE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE TRAINING 9 

quirements of the work for which he is to be trained, or after 
it has become evident at any point in his training that he is 
not the man for that particular sort of work. Any man cannot 
be trained so that he will make a good man on any job. 
Suppose a man is started in training for a job requiring a 
high degree of accuracy and it appears that he has not got the 
"accuracy sense," or the job requires neatness and quick 
fingers and the learner is not naturally neat and has "butter 
fingers." (For example, in one concern it was found that only 
two girls out of three could make fancy paper boxes. Any 
machinist will say that "you can't make a machinist out of 
anybody. ") In such cases as these (and they will occur) the 
quicker it is found out the less the unnecessary cost due to 
useless training. 

The Value of Good Instruction in Reducing Overhead Cost 
Training Cost. There is no question that a man who knows 
how to put it over, who knows the instructing game, can train 
a learner faster and better than a man who only knows the 
job even if he knows that job thoroughly. Experience has 
proved this again and again. If a man who knows how to 
instruct can train men on a given job in half the time that is 
required by a man who does not know how to put over what 
he knows, overhead costs are reduced. A considerable por- 
tion of this book is given up to "pointers" on how to put it 
over, because this is such an important factor in cutting down 
training costs. 

Summary of Conditions for Effective Training. If a concern 
must train somehow in order to keep up the effectiveness of its 
force (and all concerns must) its problem is to secure maximum 
production and minimum overhead cost by bringing all its 
force to a point where they can all do their different jobs in the 
"best" way. Since training, no matter how it is carried on, 
puts an overhead charge on the business the problem is to 
train as well as possible but to keep the training cost as low as 
possible and still train first class men. This is largely a matter 
of meeting certain conditions among the most important of 
which are: (1) Training the right people by some suitable 
method of selection. (2) Conducting the breaking-in process 



10 THE INSTRUCTOR 

in such a way that the learner will stay through it and then 
remain with the concern. (3) Establishing standards of good 
workmanship and training to those standards. 

Overhead cost will be cut according to the degree to which 
the training work is organized and operated according to the 
definite principles that underlie efficient training work. 



CHAPTER II 
METHODS OF TRAINING 

Methods of Training. As has already been pointed out, 
training has to go on somehow in practically all shops. It 
always has gone on in some form it always will. At different 
times and in different concerns training has been carried on in 
a great many different ways, but all of these ways, or methods 
of securing training, can be put into one of two classes, which 
we can for convenience call training by absorption and training 
by intention. 

Training by Absorption. Where this method is used there 
are no definite arrangements made for training. New men 
pick up ' ' their work as they can. They get what information 
they can from others who are on the same sort of jobs. Per- 
haps they find a "good fellow" at the next machine and "get 
next ' ' to him at the noon hour. ' ' They use their eyes and their 
mouths. " In this way they gradually get so that they can do 
some sort of a job or else get fired. If they are able to stay on 
the job they are finally absorbed into the working force 
hence the name. 

Under this method it is absolutely nobody's business to 
help the new man to get onto his job. What he gets he gets 
himself, either through his own efforts or through the friendly 
help of other workers or foremen who are not paid to help him 
but are paid to get out production. It is a case of "pushing him 
off the end of the dock " to sink or swim, and taking a chance 
that if he starts to drown, and yells for help, somebody will 
leave his regular job long enough to throw him a line. 

For clearness of illustration the case cited above is, of course, 
an extreme type, but it illustrates the actual way by which a 
man gets his training in a shop where no definite plan for 
training is operated. The point is, that the shop, as such, 
assumes no responsibility for seeing that new men get the 

11 



12 THE INSTRUCTOR 

training that they need. Getting such training is strictly 
"up to the man." 

A common modification of this method is where a shop 
allows piece workers to take on learners as "helpers." As an 
example, suppose a weaver in a cotton mill is running a cer- 
tain number of looms, say, for illustration, eight. His wife's 
cousin makes a deal with him to come in as a "helper." 
Perhaps the "helper" pays for the privilege. With the aid of 
this "helper" the weaver can run, say, ten looms instead 
of the eight, so he makes more money. After a while the 
" helper " thinks that he can run a few looms himself, and when 
the mill is short on weavers he gets a chance to try it on his 
own hook. In this way he gradually becomes some sort of a 
weaver. What training he got, good or bad, he did not get 
through any training plan operated by the mill. "Officially" 
the mill had nothing to do with it. It did not even know 
"officially " that the man was in training. 

Another illustration of how this method works in practice 
is when a man "steals his trade." For example, he goes to a 
machine shop and calls himself a lathe hand. In a few hours 
or half a day the foreman finds out that the man knows 
nothing about his job and fires him. However, he has found 
out something about the job. He goes to another concern, 
represents himself as a lathe hand and gets a job on the 
strength of it. This time he may last a few days. He works the 
same game again with another shop. Because he knows a 
little more he may last a little longer. By keeping this game 
up he may finally become able to do some sort of a lathe 
job. 

As in the other cases, what he got he got by himself, with 
what help he could get from other men whom he "pumped" 
as he could, and who were not supposed to help him, but were 
supposed to work on their own jobs. 

Training by Intention. This method differs from training 
by absorption in that there is some recognized plan for training 
new men. Somebody is expected to train them either as all 
of his job or as a part of his job. Some illustrations of how 
training by "intention" is carried out in practice would be an 
apprenticeship scheme; a definite recognition of helpers as a 



METHODS OF TRAINING 18 

part of the working force; a definite responsibility placed 
upon foremen to train new men as well as to get out produc- 
tion. Definite training departments, whose sole responsibility 
is to train, as described in this book, and trade schools, would 
illustrate training by intention carried to the extreme point of 
development. In all of these cases somebody is paid to train 
the new man. It is intended that he shall be trained hence 
the name. 

Characteristics of the Two Methods. It will be noted that 
in the preceding description of the two methods no questions 
were raised as to how well or how cheaply men could be 
trained by either method. It was only pointed out that by 
one method somebody is made responsible for training the 
men, and by the other method nobody is made responsible, 
and the man is left to get his training as well as he can it is 
his job and nobody else's. 

The Two Methods Compared. If the two methods are 
compared certain facts become evident. By the "absorp- 
tion" method the length of time required for a man to get 
so that he can do the job, is a pure matter of accident. If he 
is a "good fellow" of considerable push, and happens to get 
in with some other "good fellows" who are interested in him 
and are willing to show him, the training time will be shortened. 
If he happens to be timid or shy, or runs up against a bunch of 
men who "throw him down" or "kid" him when he tries to 
find out something about his job, the training period will be 
greatly increased. If he gets jobs of different degrees of 
difficulty he is likely to get them any way that they happen to 
come. Since nobody is looking out for him, he is put onto 
regular work when he guesses that he can do it and can con- 
vince whoever is in charge that he guessed right. He cannot 
be really trained against standards. Nobody really knows 
when he is trained. What help he gets may come from men 
who are not themselves first class men on the job, so that the 
way that he learns to do the work may not be the best way. 
Even if they are good men there is no probability that they 
are good at putting over what they know to a new man, and 
he does not get an entirely clear idea as to how the job should 



14 THE INSTRUCTOR 

be done. All such things make his training long, ineffective, 
incomplete, and in the end, costly. 

Where the plan of training by intention is operated some- 
body is made responsible for training the man. It may be the 
foreman, a skilled man in charge of a helper, or an instructor 
who only trains. Whoever it is, a part of his job, or all of his 
job is to properly train the man. Under this plan it is possible 
to see that he gets help when he needs it, and that he does not 
have to wait for a chance to get it any way that he can. It is 
possible to see that he gets the easiest jobs first and the most 
difficult jobs last. It is possible to keep track of his training 
and know when he is trained enough to meet given standards. 
It is possible to be sure that what he gets he gets from first 
class men, and not from anybody that happens to be around. 
This amounts to saying that by this method the training can 
be controlled and planned whereas it is accidental and cannot 
be controlled under the "absorption" plan. 

Of course the degree to which training under the intention 
plan is effective is determined by the extent to which it is 
organized in accordance with sound principles, and the manner 
in which these principles are worked out in detail, but the points 
noted above can be effectively met where training is by intention 
and cannot be effectively met when training is by absorption. 

Training by Intention the Cheaper Plan. From the stand- 
point of the overhead training cost, as already discussed, 
training by intention is the cheaper plan. Many large con- 
cerns recognize this fact and operate intentional training 
schemes. The various conditions that have been pointed out 
as unavoidable under the absorption plan (unnecessarily long 
training periods, learning from poor men, loss of partly trained 
men, etc.) all make for an excessive overhead cost. The 
possibilities pointed out under the "intention" plan permit 
of giving the most effective training at the lowest overhead 
cost. The degree to which the cost is actually reduced de- 
pends, of course, on how the training is actually carried out 
in practice. 

Some Ways by which Intentional Training is Carried out in 
Practice. Of course intentional training is carried out in all 



METHODS OF TRAINING 15 

sorts of ways in practice, and the methods of "breaking-in 
help" that are usually followed in such schemes for intentional 
training are well known to shop men, but for purposes of dis- 
cussion some of the more common methods are given here. 

(1) The foreman, in addition to his responsibility for 
getting out the product, is made responsible for the training 
of new men. He personally instructs them, keeps track of 
them, checks them up. Many foremen have been very 
successful in training men themselves and, in some cases, 
have developed most excellent methods. 

(2) A competent workman (an "old hand") is put in 
charge of one or more learners. (Helpers, apprentices, 
green men.) In the old days, under the apprenticeship 
method, this was the standard plan. Training is, of course, 
carried on in the regular shop as in the first case. 

(3) Certain men are given the exclusive job of training. 
These men are paid to do nothing else. Men are broken in 
by them it is their job and nobody else is supposed to have 
anything to do with the man until he is trained. Such men 
are sometimes called instructing foremen to distinguish their 
job from that of production foremen. Under this plan 
training is also carried on in the shop. 

(4) Training is not carried on in the regular shop but in 
special "training shops," so that men do not get into the 
regular work until they have been thoroughly trained. 
Under good conditions the training is given with the same 
equipment as that of the production shops, and the same 
sort of work is carried on. A modification of this plan is 
the trade school shop as it has been developed in some parts 
of the country. 

(5) Distinct training departments are established with 
distinct heads and instructing staffs. So long as men are in 
training they are under the authority of the training de- 
partment and not under the production foremen. When 
properly trained in the training department they are turned 
over to the production department as competent men. 
Training may be given in special shops or in the regular 
production shops. 



1 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Of course, there are many modifications of these five forms. 
For example, a foreman will often start a distinct training shop 
for elementary training. This separate training shop may be 
in some corner of the production shop. After a little prelimi- 
nary breaking-in in the special "shop," the man's training will 
be completed in the regular shop. The five examples given 
will, however, serve as a basis for discussion. 

Training by Intention Requires an Instructor. Before taking 
up a discussion of the relative advantages and disadvantages 
of the different typical methods just cited, one important 
point should be clear. Training by intention, however it may 
be carried out in detail, always puts the responsibility for 
training onto somebody. That "somebody" is paid for giving 
part of his time, or all of his time to training instead of giving 
all of his time to production. That is, training by intention 
always uses an instructor. 

This is true because an instructor, whatever he may be 
called, is somebody who is paid to "put it over": to teach. 

In this sense, training by absorption does not assume that 
any instructor is required. 

The Job of the Instructor. Whenever a man has the job 
of putting over what he knows to somebody else, whether he 
thinks so or not, he is an instructor. His job is to instruct or, 
to use the more common word, he is a teacher and his job is 
to teach. Men who give shop instruction rarely think of 
themselves as teachers. They seldom realize that they have 
the same sort of a job as any other teacher, but such is the 
fact. So far as the teaching end of it goes, teaching Bill Jones 
how to set an index head on a universal miller, teaching a new 
recruit how to handle a rifle, and teaching Bill's son, Sammy 
Jones, how to solve an algebraic equation are all the same sorts 
of jobs. Like any other job it can be well done or badly done, 
but is the same kind of a job. Whatever he may be called, a 
man who has an instructing job is an instructor. 

If a man has the instructing job on his hands he naturally 
wants to do that as well as it can be done. As in all other 
cases, the best conditions will enable the instructing job to be 
done in the best way. It is also true that when a job is done 



METHODS OF TRAINING 17 

in the best way it is done in the cheapest way : that is, in the 
long run it costs less to do the job in that way, though some- 
times, before the matter is thought out it looks as if it was 
costing more. The following paragraphs discuss the different 
methods of intentional training that have been given from the 
standpoint of getting the most effective instruction as well as 
from the standpoint of cost. 

The Different Methods Compared. If we look at the five 
methods of training given it is evident that they can be divided 
into two groups. In examples (1) and (2) the instructor has 
a double job. The foreman, or the breaker-in has to get out 
the work and also instruct. In examples (3), (4) and (5) the 
instructor has only one job: to instruct. As is pointed out in 
detail later, this does not mean that men under instruction may 
not turn out work, and good work, but it does mean that the job 
of the instructor is only that of training. He is responsible for 
the training that he does. The work turned out, while impor- 
tant, is a " side show." In cases (1) and (2) we have a divided 
responsibility, in cases (3), (4) and (5) a single responsibility. 

The Single Responsibility Plan is Better. A production 
force is on the job to get out product. The shop is organized 
to turn out work; that is what it is there for. A foreman, 
or other executive or supervisor, is responsible for getting out 
the maximum product as well and as quickly as possible. 
Men are employed to do their individual jobs and not to train 
other men. Anything that interferes in any way with the 
best conditions for getting out the work, slows up production 
and puts an unnecessary overhead cost on the production 
work. The attempt to handle training through the regular 
production force, not only interferes with production but also 
interferes with the efficiency of the training. The following 
paragraphs discuss these points in detail. 

Why Training by the Use of the Regular Production Force 
Interferes with Production. The general principle involved 
here is the value of specialization. When it is desired to get a 
piece of work done as well as possible, the best way to do it 
is to put someone on that job, hold him responsible and let 
him give his undivided attention to getting it done. The 



18 THE INSTRUCTOR 

more he can concentrate on it, the better work he will do. 
Men who are held responsible for production will do better 
work if they concentrate their time and effort on production 
than they will if their time and effort has to be divided between 
two distinct jobs: training and production. 

For illustration, assume that a foreman, as in example (1), 
is expected to run his shop and also act as an instructor; 
these are some of the results: 

(1) The problems of getting out production are of one 
kind. They relate to operations, production, speed, getting 
maximum service out of the equipment. They head up 
into getting out the product in the necessary quantity, of 
the necessary quality and with as much speed and as little 
lost motion as possible. 

The problems of training are, as shown later, of a totally 
different kind. They relate to methods of training. They 
deal with such questions as, what a man is thinking about 
while he is being instructed; how to secure and hold his 
attention; how to be sure that he fully understands; how to 
find out what he has not fully understood. They head up 
into turning out trained men as rapidly and efficiently as 
possible. 

Now these two kinds of problems call for two distinct 
kinds of thinking and for two distinct kinds of training. It 
is hard for a man who is used to thinking about production 
problems to shift once for all and think about instructing 
problems as he does when he becomes a " steady " instructor. 
This has been the experience of every shop man who has 
become an instructor. He finds it a hard and a slow process 
to make the shift. Under the conditions assumed, the 
foreman who both runs his shop and instructs must make 
this shift a great many times a day. First, for example, 
he plans to get out a certain job by ten o'clock the next 
morning. Then he must think out the best way to instruct 
a man on a certain job. Next he may have to shift back 
to another shop problem, then back to an instructing 
problem and so on. He is in the same condition as a man 
trying to do a pattern maker's job and a machine shop job 



METHODS OF TRAINING 10 

at the same time, or a ball player trying to pitch and cover 
first base. Mentally he is running back and forth between 
two entirely different kinds of jobs. 

Now such running back and forth means a distinct loss 
of efficiency. A man cannot thoroughly get "down to 
brass tacks" on either job. The result of putting this 
double job onto a man who is responsible for production 
is to keep him from doing his best on the production job, 
and that suffers accordingly. Under these conditions pro- 
duction suffers because the man responsible for keeping it 
up to top notch is bothered with the details of another 
job as well as those of his own. This is especially true 
where either job is enough to keep a man busy. 

The usual and almost inevitable result is that one of the 
jobs is neglected. Either training or production suffers. 
Under ordinary conditions training suffers badly and produc- 
tion is retarded as well. The foreman is bothered, he is in- 
terfered with on his main job, and the training is badly done, 
so that there is a loss at both ends. The above discussion 
will apply equally well to the case where skilled men in the 
shop are expected to do their jobs and also instruct. If they 
do any real instructing they are in exactly the same situation 
as the foreman their thinking and attention must run 
back and forth between the two kinds of problems which 
they are supposed to handle. This interferes with doing 
the job, and also interferes with the effectiveness of the 
training. 

(2) The extent to which a combined producer and in- 
structor leaves his production job in order to instruct is 
so much time lost in production. When a skilled man 
leaves his job to show a green man how to do something, 
whatever time he takes is lost time so far as production goes. 
If this instruction work is divided among a number of men 
the total time lost amounts to considerable. This of course 
slows up production to just that amount. The same 
amount of time concentrated in one or more men who 
gave their time to instruction only would serve to instruct a 
considerably larger number of men. 

The amount of time and attention that is diverted from 



20 THE INSTRUCTOR 

production, under the conditions just discussed, is enough, 
where any amount of training is carried on, to appreciably 
affect production efficiency. Men whose job is to get out 
production cannot work with full efficiency if they have to 
carry the "overload" of training as well. 

Put it in another way. A certain number of men have 
to be instructed. This takes a certain amount of time 
and energy no matter how it is done. If this time and energy 
are drawn from the production force it will require more 
time and energy than if the same number of men were 
trained by instructors who did nothing else. This saving 
of time and effort means an increase in production, in addi- 
tion to tke direct saving due to time and energy kept in 
production where the production force do not have to 
instruct. 

Why the Use of the Regular Production Force Interferes 
with Effective Training. If training interferes with produc- 
tion the situation also works backward. It is almost impossi- 
ble to secure the most efficient training when the same men 
are made responsible for both maximum production and 
efficient training work. This is true for practically the rea- 
sons given in the last paragraph. Trying to do both jobs cuts 
down good work on both. 

The instructing job, if it is to be well done must be concen- 
trated upon. Learners must not be left standing around for 
further instructions because the *' instructor" has to attend 
to some production problem at just that time. Neither 
should they be poorly instructed because the instructor was 
too hard pushed for time to properly plan the instruction work. 

When the instructor comes off a production job and comes 
on an instruction job he has to make the same "shift" de- 
scribed in the last paragraph, only this time from production 
to instruction, and he will not do as good a job of instructing 
as he could have done had he been thinking of instructing 
all the time. 

The effect of this continual shifting on the efficiency of 
both training and production is generally overlooked because 
it is largely a mental question and so is concealed. Often 



METHODS OF TRAINING 21 

the man who is trying to do both jobs is not aware of the 
trouble himself. He may be conscious of the "drag" but he 
does not realize the cause. The great interest that many fore- 
men take in training, and their unconsciousness of the "drag" 
of the double job, often makes them reluctant to turn train- 
ing over to a specialist although it really means a relief. 

Specialization an Advantage. Keeping the responsibility 
for getting out production and for training separate unquestion- 
ably makes for the efficiency of both. Men who are to instruct 
should be held responsible for instruction only. Men who 
are to produce should be held responsible for production only. 
This is the most efficient organization. Giving both jobs to 
the same set of men cuts down efficiency on both and is a 
wasteful organization. 

This means that whenever training is to be done, instructors 
should be employed: men whose sole business is to instruct 
and these instructors should be trained for their jobs. 

As in any other line of work, instruction will be good or 
bad according to the degree to which the instructor is "onto 
his job," according to the degree to which he is an expert in 
his line. This is as true in the instructing trade as it is in any 
other trade. 

Definitely and Accidentally Trained Instructors. As in any 
other trade, an instructor may have "picked up" his trade 
as an instructor or he may have secured definite training. 
We may have a trained or an untrained instructor. As in 
other trades, there are best ways of putting over instructing 
jobs and a man can get these "points" from a man who knows- 
them. That is, an expert teacher who knows how to teach 
can show a prospective trade instructor a good deal about 
" how to put it over, " in connection with that man's instructing 
job. Of course it is plain that such a "training course" would 
not undertake to teach a man anything about his trade itself, 
but would only show him how to "put over" to better advan- 
tage the trade knowledge and skill that he already possessed. 

It is evident that the more a man knows about his job the 
more time and attention he will put into it, because he does 
know more about it. This is as true of an instructor as of 



22 THE INSTRUCTOR 

anybody else. The more he knows about the instructing 
job the more he will feel the "drag" of a double responsibility, 
the more he will see the loss of efficiency in training due to 
"shifting." The less a man knows about instructing as a 
distinct trade the less the double combination will disturb 
him. This makes it particularly desirable that trained 
instructors should be only held responsible for instruction. 

The Value of the Trained Instructor. Experience has shown 
that a trained instructor can do a much better instructing 
job than an untrained man, no matter how competent that 
man may be in his trade or on his job. The former can 
train men quicker, easier and better. He knows how to 
handle men under good instructional conditions which are 
often very different from good production conditions. He can 
plan his work and use the best "putting over" method for a 
given teaching job. He knows how to inspect his own work 
and can tell whether his learners thoroughly understand what 
has been taught them. He can analyze his trade and can de- 
termine just what instruction should be given a man for a 
specific piece of work. 

The employment of trained instructors, therefore, adds 
greatly to the efficiency of any training work, and the cost of 
properly training them is more than repaid by the increased 
efficiency that results directly in the training itself, and, 
through that, in decreased overhead charges and increased 
production. 

Summary. Training must be carried on somehow. It 
may be by intention or by absorption. By the absorption 
plan the concern, as such, assumes no responsibility for seeing 
that the recruit secures training. By the intention plan it 
does assume that responsibility. Training by intention is 
more efficient and cheaper, but requires an instructor. The 
instructor may be required to attend to both instruction and 
production or the two jobs may be specialized. Specializa- 
tion is more efficient and cheaper. It is still cheaper and 
more efficient not only to use specialized instructors who 
only instruct but to use trained instructors, who know how 
to instruct. 



CHAPTER in 
TRAINING ON THE JOB 

The preceding chapters discussed the value of definitely 
organized training, described certain common methods by 
which this training may be carried out, and pointed out the 
most economical and efficient working conditions. There 
still remains to be discussed the question of how and where 
this training is to be given. 

This is particularly important, as many training schemes 
have been less efficient than they might have been because 
undesirable and inefficient methods were employed. 

It is also true, that, for reasons discussed later, more expen- 
sive and less effective training methods are quite liable to be 
employed in industrial plants where those in charge were not 
familiar with the fundamental principles on which the most 
effective training can be developed. 

The Two Methods. Whenever practical training is under- 
taken, it is generally carried on according to one of two methods 
which for convenience may be designated as training on the 
job and training by exercises. Whatever the details, in 
training on the job, the learner, from the beginning, is put 
directly on actual work. Production starts as soon as train- 
ing starts. From the beginning of his training, the learner 
uses the same tools and machines and works up the same 
stock as would a regular producer on that job. He turns out 
a product that is of value, although, of course, his productivity 
is not so great. 

In training by exercises, the learner is not put on actual 
work from the start. Production does not start when training 
begins but there is a period during which the learner does not 
produce in the sense that his product is of value. It may 
be true, that, by the exercise method of training, the learner 
may use the same tools and machines, or even work on the same 



24 THE INSTRUCTOR 

stock as a regular man on the job, but his product is not used. 
It is "junked," or dissembled after it has served its training 
purpose. The test for an " exercise" is therefore, not how the 
job is done but what becomes of the product after the job is 
done. 

The Two Methods Illustrated The Exercise Method. 
Take the case of training riveters in a shipyard. According 
to the exercise method, a green man would be set to driving 
rivets on some old plates. After he had driven a number, 
they would be cut out and more rivets would be driven in the 
same holes. This process would be repeated until he was 
considered sufficiently expert to "graduate" into real work in 
the production force. The same old plates would be used 
over and over again for successive learners. 

Another illustration is in the method of training in machine 
shop work often followed in the shops of technical schools. 
A series of operations are laid out to be put through by the 
learner. (Say, rough turning, fine turning, thread cutting) 
and, after these operations are finished, the final product is 
"junked." Still another illustration is in training brick- 
layers; a wall is laid up by the learners and laborers are 
employed to tear it down. 

Another variation of this method is where a learner is put on 
as an observer and after a while is allowed to "try his hand" 
on some odds and ends, as in a jointry shop, where, after 
some observation, he is allowed to try making a joint with 
pieces of scrap stock. 

It will be observed in all of these cases, that between the 
time that the learner is taken on and the time that he was 
started in on "work" there was a greater or less period of 
time when he was of no direct productive value. 

The Two Methods Illustrated The Job Method. The 
second method can be illustrated by such cases as the follow- 
ing. In training a riveter in a shipyard, from the start, he is 
put upon work that has a value. This work, of course, is 
selected for its simplicity, but, the rivets that are driven stay 
driven, unless, of course, they are defective, as in the riveting 
done by any production riveting gang. The parts that are 



TRAINING ON THE JOB 25 

riveted together stay together and go into the ship. In the 
same way, in jointry work, simple jobs that really count in 
production, are selected and given to the learner from the 
beginning. The simplest, roughest jobs are given first and the 
learner gradually progresses to finer and more difficult work 
as his training goes on. In training a learner on a special 
machine, he is started directly on the machine itself without 
any appreciable period of observation. In all such cases, 
it will be noted that no appreciable period intervenes between 
the time that the learner is started in training and the time 
that he begins to produce. 

Theory of the Two Methods. The exercise method is based 
upon the theory that a learner must, in some way, secure a 
certain amount of skill before he can be trusted on actual work. 
Unless he has acquired this skill he will spoil work, damage 
machines, spoil jobs. In certain cases, in training for skilled 
trades, it is also based on the theory that if a learner can be 
given skill in a series of disconnected operations he can, later, 
readily combine any set of those operations into the doing 
of any given job. 

The method of training on production is based on the theory 
that, under proper conditions, the "non productive period" 
is unnecessary, in the great majority of cases. The greater 
interest of the learner, the value of his product, the added 
training value to learners in working under actual working con- 
ditions more than offsets the chances of the small amount of 
spoiled work that results where this type of training is carried 
on under proper conditions. 

Since most men in industrial plants have not known how 
to secure proper conditions and have sensed the dangers of 
the "jobs" method of training, it is not surprising that they 
have tried the exercise method to a greater or less extent. 

Advantages and Disadvantages. The advantages of the 
exercise method may be listed out as follows: 

(1) If the learner is thoroughly trained on exercises 
before he is put to work, the danger of spoiled work is 
minimized. 



26 THE INSTRUCTOR 

(2) Since his work is of no value he does not require 
as careful watching as if he were on a real job. 

(3) Such work has a certain trying out value. 

(4) Where definite instruction is planned such exercises 
can be arranged in any desired order without regard to the 
requirements of actual work. 

(5) In many cases exercises can be so contrived that the 
learner can be less "bother" around the shop than if he 
were put onto regular production jobs. 

The disadvantages of this method may be Ksted out as 
follows : 

(1) As already stated, this method calls for a period of 
non-productive work. In a school, where students are 
not paid for their time, this is perhaps less important than 
in a shop w r here learners are under pay. In the shop this 
non-productive period adds to the overhead cost. 

(2) The training conditions are artificial. Under actual 
working conditions men are not put on work unless the 
product is of value to the output. 

(3) Experience has shown, especially in shops, that 
where a learner knows that his product will not have to 
meet the actual test of use, he is less interested, tends to 
be more careless in his work and is less anxious to get on. 

(4) It is very difficult to apply in many shop operations, 
especially on automatic or semi-automatic machines and 
on a large number of semi-skilled jobs. 

(5) In many cases, exercises as planned, do not repro- 
duce actual working conditions. In the effort to avoid 
tying up tools and equipment on non-productive work the 
tendency to use "artificial" exercises is strong. One 
illustration of this is the common tendency to consider 
that any old worn out tool or machine is good enough for 
training exercises. 

The advantages of training on the job may be listed out as 
follows: 

(1) There is no non-productive interval, hence overhead 
cost is reduced. 



TRAINING ON THE JOB 27 

(2) The learner's interest is kept up from the start, 
hence he is much more likely to do his work as well as 
possible, and to desire to get on as fast as possible. 

(3) It is practically the only method that can be used 
in training on many industrial jobs. (Semi-skilled, auto- 
matic, etc.) 

(4) All training can be given under actual production 
conditions. 

The disadvantages are: 

(1) The danger of spoiling work, if not properly con- 
trolled. 

(2) The difficulty of securing the right sort of work 
for training by selecting it only from the work of the shop. 

(3) The difficulty of securing suitable work for training 
without seriously interfering with the regular production 
work. 

Training on the Job the Better if these Difficulties can be 
Minimized. It is evident that training directly on produc- 
tive work is the cheaper and more efficient method provided 
its disadvantages can be removed. If the period of non- 
productive work can be cut out, that is a distinct advantage. 
If the interest of the learner can be kept up to the highest 
pitch, the time required for training will be reduced and the 
learner will be much more likely to stay through the training. 
As stated, there are many jobs for which it is practically im- 
possible to train on any other basis. 

The disadvantages of the exercise method are fundamental 
in their character. The objections to the job method are 
not fundamental, but can be eliminated by a proper organi- 
zation. 

Many concerns have admitted the advantages of the 
method of training on production and, in fact, many have 
tried it in some cases with unsatisfactory results. This failure 
has not been due to the insuperable difficulties of the plan, 
but to the omission of a vital factor, the trained and competent 
instructor. Where such work has been undertaken without such 
an instructor all the difficulties of this method have been at 



8 THE INSTRUCTOR 

their maximum. With no instructor (as by the absorption 
method) where such help as was given was given by other work- 
men incidental to the doing of their own jobs, of course results 
were very bad. Machines were smashed, stock spoiled, men 
injured and discontented, training poor. Even where the 
foreman has had this additional load put upon him, in addi- 
tion to his proper job, that of running his shop, similar results 
have occurred, though it is only fair to say, that many foremen 
have worked "overtime" and have achieved some measure 
of success in spite of their double load, especially where 
such men had some notions as to the principles of effective 
instruction. 

Where an instructor has been employed he has usually 
been selected either because he was a good production man or 
as has sometimes occurred, because he was not (the idea being 
to use a less valuable man on the training work and keep the 
better men in production). In few cases was he selected 
because he could instruct efficiently, either because he was a 
natural teacher or because he had been trained as an instructor. 

The Instructor and Training on the Job. AS already 
stated the key to effective training on production is the 
instructor who can instruct. Such a man knows how to ana- 
lyze out the different learning processes through which the 
learner must go in training for each job. He knows how to 
take the learner through those processes step by step. He 
knows how to be sure that the learner has got one step before 
he takes him to the next. He knows how to handle the 
learner so that he is interested in getting along as fast as possi- 
ble and in doing as good a job as possible. If in addition, 
his job is only that of an instructor, he is on the instructing 
job all the time, preventing mistakes, anticipating difficul- 
ties, straightening out the learner as soon as he starts to go 
wrong. And he has no other job to think about. Under 
these conditions the dangers of job training are reduced to a 
minimum. 

As in all other trades, as a general proposition, a trained 
instructor can do a better job than an untrained instructor. 
Hence the better trained the instructor the better the results 
in job training. An investment in training instructors will 



TRAINING ON THE JOB 29 

be well repaid to any concern undertaking training and is 
especially desirable when training is to be carried on by inten- 
tion and on the job. 

The Importance of Training on the Job. As already stated 
there are very few situations where training on production 
from the beginning of the process is not the most efficient 
and the cheapest in the end. This, of course, provided inten- 
tional training is used with properly qualified instructors. 
Experience has shown that, under these conditions it can be 
carried on without seriously disturbing the work of the pro- 
duction force. This is, of course, largely a matter of coopera- 
tion and proper organization. 

The adoption of this method makes it possible to train 
effectively on a large number of specialized and semi-skilled 
jobs for which training cannot be given in any other way. 
It is as important that efficient methods of training should be 
used for training on these jobs as on "skilled" jobs. 'Many 
a concern suffers more from lack of first class workers on jobs 
of this class than from lack of skill in its highly skilled men, 
who are often relatively few in number. The tendency to 
concentrate attention on training to the few highly skilled 
trades that may be represented in the force results in a loss of 
efficiency. Some large concerns have even found it desirable 
to train their office boys. 

Training on the Job in the Trade School. A trade school 
that trains its students on productive work differs in no essen- 
tial way from a commercial concern so far as training condi- 
tions go. The same requirements as to trained and qualified 
instructors exist here that would be found in an industrial 
plant training its learners on the job. What has been said 
applies therefore to such a school as well as to an industrial 
plant. It is the personal conviction of the writer that exer- 
cise training has no more place in an efficient trade school 
than it has in an efficient plant. 

Summary. There are two general methods of training: 
on the job and by exercises. The exercise method assumes 
a period of non-productive training, the job method does not. 
A comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of the 



30 THE INSTRUCTOR 

two methods shows that the exercise method has certain 
fundamental disadvantages and the "job" method certain 
disadvantages that can be practically cut out by proper 
organization and right working conditions. Difficulties in 
carrying on job training have been mainly due to lack of 
specialized, trained, qualified instructors. The job method 
is the most efficient and the cheapest, both in industrial plants 
and in trade schools. 



CHAPTER IV 
PICKING THE TRAINING FORCE 

The final key to the success or failure of any training course 
is the sort of man that is put in charge of the work. Effec- 
tive organization is necessary, adequate provision for training 
is necessary, but these alone will not give effective training 
results. 

The following suggestions may be of value to those who 
may be interested in manning a training plan, or in selecting 
prospective instructors to attend an Instructor Training 
Course. 

Trade Experience. It is useless to look for good instruc- 
tion unless the instructor is a thoroughly good * workman. 
The notion that "a man that is not good enough for the job 
is good enough for an instructor on that job " will only lead to 
trouble. Where foremen or their subordinates are asked to 
pick instructors it has sometimes occurred that they have recom- 
mended men that they wanted to get rid of rather than their 
best men. This may have been natural for men who had no 
notion of what an instructor's job really is, but these men 
were of course, really defeating their own ends. 

Experience has shown again and again that the only man who 
is worth selecting for a prospective instructor is a thorough 
master of his job. 

A rough guide is the length of time that a man has worked 
at his trade. For instruction in skilled trades it should be 
not less than eight years. For specialized work it may be less, 
but the tendency is to undervalue a long trade experience, 
as an asset for an instructor. As already stated he must 
not only know about the job, but must know how to do it, and 
his experience must have been sufficient so that he can "hold 
down his job with any man." He must command the trade 
respect of the production force. 

31 



32 THE INSTRUCTOR 

General Education. Many concerns have felt that young 
men of good general education, who had had some contact with 
the industry in the line in which they were to instruct, were 
desirable material for instructors, though they had little or no 
actual trade experience. Often a young man with some techni- 
cal training who has acted as an inspector or assistant to an 
executive is selected on account of his education and general 
ability. Such men are not likely to succeed as instructors 
and should not be selected. If an instructor cannot "hold 
up his end" with any man in the shop, if they do not respect 
him on a production basis, if they do not know that he has 
"been through the mill," he will not succeed as an instructor 
no matter how well educated and intelligent he may be. 
Such a young man may know a great deal about how to do the 
job, but being able to do the job is another matter. In- 
telligence is needed, but it is that of the shop, not that of the 
school. 

Of course the above statement does not mean that the 
more general education a man has the better, provided he 
has his trade, but the tendency to assume that good education 
is an equivalent for trade ability is an unfortunate one. ' 

Another mistake sometimes made is in selecting a man who 
has had a school experience but has either no trade experience 
or very little. This comes from a confusion as to what 
constitutes the job of a trade or job instructor. An educa- 
tional experience is of value, but alone, it will not serve the pur- 
pose, for the same reasons given in the preceding paragraph. 

Age. Prospective instructors should not be too young.. 
From thirty to forty is perhaps the best age, but men well over 
forty have made good instructors when properly trained. A 
man who takes up instructing has to learn a new trade, the 
instructing trade. Whatever his age, if he has grown "stiff" 
he is not likely to pick up and practice the new trade effectively. 
If too young, lack of trade experience and immaturity will 
prove handicaps. 

Other Desirable Qualifications. A supervisory experience, 
such as that of a foreman, is desirable provided it has not been 
so long that the man has lost the "feel" of the job. Where 



PICKING THE TRAINING FORCE 33 

a considerable period has elapsed since he actually worked 
at the job himself this is likely to prove a detriment. 

The Ability to "Put It Over." It is commonly assumed 
that if a man can do a good job himself he can teach a learner 
how to do it. This is not the case, however. Many men 
who can do a first class job cannot teach anybody else how to 
do that job. The two qualities do not necessarily go together. 
It is true that the better a man is on his job the better instructor 
he will make, provided he can teach. Some men seem to be 
"natural teachers, but such men are rare. The average good 
man can acquire, however, the ability to instruct best through 
an effective training course. This has been very plainly 
shown where such courses have been conducted. 

The Director of Training. The desirability of putting the 
training work in charge of a responsible head (a director) is 
discussed later. In selecting such a man, many concerns have 
failed to recognize the importance of his job. They have 
picked out men who were too young. Men without sufficient 
experience in handling men; men without knowledge of the 
principles of good training, whose only experience has been in 
the field of production have been put upon this work. An ex- 
perience in production, especially in the plant in which the train- 
ing is to be given, is a valuable asset for a director, but, never- 
theless, if he lacks knowledge of the principles of good training 
and of instructional organization he will be lacking in efficiency. 
Any director should be as good an instructor as any of his staff. 

The director of a training department has a job that is 
as vital to the success of a concern as the work of any other 
department. He should be chosen as carefully as any other 
department head and paid as well. He should be given 
authority commensurate with his responsibility. 

Summary. The best instructor is a man of thorough trade 
experience, preferably in the plant. He should not be too 
young or too old. He should be a first class man on his job, 
but adaptable and able to change from production to instruc- 
tional conditions. The attempt to substitute men with other 
types of experience is liable to lead to unsatisfactory results, 
and to lower the efficiency of the training. 



PART II 

THE ANALYSIS AND CLASSIFICATION OF 
TRADE KNOWLEDGE 



PRODUCTION AND INSTRUCTION 

A COMPARISON 



THE SHOP 



Turns out a product. 



Knows what kind of a pro- 
duct it is going to turn out. 



Gets out the product from 
specifications and plans from 
which parts are made and then 
assembled. 



The man responsible for the 
finished product knows all the 
parts that go into the com- 
plete product. 



The parts of the complete 
product are assembled in the 
order that will give the most 
rapid and easy assembling. 



THE INSTRUCTOR 



Turns out an instructed 
man. (A learner.) 



Knows what kind of work 
he is training the learner for. 



Works from a planned 
course of instruction made 
up from definite teaching 
units. (Lessons.) 



The instructor knows all 
the branches and operations 
of his trade. 



The course of instruction 
is put over in an order that 
will enable the learner to get 
it as rapidly and easily as 
possible. 



36 



CHAPTER V 
THE PRODUCER AND THE INSTRUCTOR 

Introductory Note. Parts II to VII contain material es- 
pecially prepared for the use of instructors or prospective 
instructors, and for use in Instructor Training Courses. For 
this reason certain points presented in Part I. are again pre- 
sented here from a somewhat different angle. 

The Producer vs. The Instructor. All industrial work is 
carried on in order that a product may be obtained; its aim is 
to turn out some sort of a manufactured product: to "get 
out production" For this purpose workmen are engaged, 
machines are operated, tools are used. The aim of a cotton 
mill is to. turn out cloth, of a steel mill to turn out steel; of a 
shipyard to turn out ships. In these or in any other produc- 
tion plant the workman or mechanic by the exercise of his 
knowledge and skill contributes to the production of the par- 
ticular article for which the plant is operated. The greater 
the skill and intelligence of the workmen, the better the equip- 
ment, the less stock spoiled by poor workmanship and the 
more effectively the different jobs are routed and inspected, 
the more efficiently and cheaply is the cloth, or the steel or the 
ship turned out. A man who has learned his trade and has 
practiced it efficiently is therefore an efficient producer. He 
has lived and worked in the surroundings of the production 
plant; he naturally thinks of his job in terms of product. 

Training is carried on in any industrial plant in order that 
people (apprentices, learners, helpers, etc.), that is, people 
who do not know how to do jobs, may learn how to do jobs. 
Unless training were in some way carried on in connection 
with production after a while production would stop because 
all the people who knew how to do the work had died and 
there would be nobody to continue the work; so that we should 
have no more steel, or cotton cloth or ships. The aim of 

37 



38 THE INSTRUCTOR 

training is therefore not to turn out production but to turn out 
men who have been given the necessary skill to enable them 
to weave cotton cloth, or make steel or build ships. Its product 
is an effective producer, but is not production. 

An Instructor, by the exercise of his knowledge of instruction 
methods and his skill in applying them to the work of instruc- 
tion, produces an efficient workman and makes him out of a 
man who, before he was instructed, was not a worker at all, or 
was not a thoroughly efficient worker. 

The greater the skill and intelligence of the instructor the 
better the instructional equipment, the fewer good men or 
apprentices spoiled by poor instruction and the more rapidly 
and efficiently the instructional process is carried on, the more 
efficiently and cheaply are the learners converted into efficient 
producers. 

A competent producer who has also been trained to instruct 
and who on account of that training, "knows his job " from the 
standpoint of putting over what he knows, is an efficient 
instructor. As an instructor he works on a training job. He 
naturally thinks of his job in terms of trained learners. He 
thinks in terms of training and not in terms of production. 

The Producer who Becomes an Instructor. When a man 
who has always been a producer, becomes an instructor, he 
usually gets into difficulties because he does not realize that 
he has, in reality, changed his job; that he has stopped being a 
producer and has become a trainer. He attempts to do a 
training job but he still thinks in terms of a production job. 
This is why a man who knows his trade usually thinks that he 
can teach it, and why, when he finds that things do not go 
right he usually blames it on the men or apprentices he is 
trying to instruct. Some men are natural teachers; they have, 
in some manner, picked up more or less of the instructor's 
trade, but in general, no matter how thoroughly a man may 
know his trade, or how much experience he may have had in 
production, he usually "falls down" as an instructor when he 
first tackles the instructing job because he does not know how 
to put over what he knows into the head or the hand of his 
learners. Often he realizes that he is not doing a good in- 
structing job, becomes discouraged and quits, when the real 



THE PRODUCER AND THE INSTRUCTOR 39 

difficulty is that he never realized that, when he became an 
instructor he really took up a new trade which he knew nothing 
about and that what he needs is to get hold of the new trade, 
(instructing) in order to succeed. 

Some Common Difficulties. Among the more common 
difficulties which the "green" or untrained mechanical in- 
structor encounters are: First, inability to take account of 
stock as to what he knows; that is, he knows it, but he has 
never listed it out. He cannot analyze his trade. Second, 
when he has to put over more than one job he does not know 
how to arrange the different jobs so that each job that the 
learner masters makes the mastery of the next job easier. He 
does not know how to arrange his jobs in an effective instruc- 
tional order. Third, he is often unable to distinguish between 
what must be taught as jobs and what should be given to the 
learner in the form of information. Fourth, he does not know 
how to plan so that it will be given to the learner at the time 
that he must apply it on the job for the first time. Fifth, he 
does not know how to teach or put over any given job rapidly, 
effectively and thoroughly. Sixth, he does not know how to 
handle learners under instructional conditions though he may 
know how to handle them under production conditions. 

The First Difficulty: Inability to Analyze. It is one thing 
to know; it is another thing to know what you know. A man 
who has learned to do things by doing them is not, as a rule, 
in the habit of " taking stock " of his trade knowledge. On the 
job he uses his knowledge and skill so unconsciously that he 
hardly gives a thought to how he does it or what he does to do 
it. He works, so to speak, automatically. 

When he undertakes to put over to somebody else what 
he knows, or what he can do, that is, when he becomes an 
instructor, he must be able to determine what he is going to 
teach. The learner does not know it; he has got to learn it. 
The instructor does know it and he must therefore know what 
he is going to put over to the learner so that he can determine 
just what the learner must know when he has instructed 
him. 

Of course, the instructor, knowing his trade, has all these 



40 THE INSTRUCTOR 

things in his head, but, until such a "stock taking" is carried 
out the instructor is in much the condition of an old-fashioned 
country store where all sorts of things are in stock but nobody 
knows just what is in stock. Just as the up to date store has 
an inventory, so the instructor must take an inventory of his 
stock, what he has to teach. 

The efficient workman who becomes an instructor even if 
he recognizes the necessity of this stock taking cannot usually 
do it at first, because, as pointed out above, he has never had 
occasion to look at his work from that angle. He must do 
what amounts to looking at his trade as an outsider would: he 
must watch himself at work and note down what he does. He 
must "watch himself at work." This is a hard thing to do if a 
man is not used to doing it, and the producer who becomes an 
instructor has never had to do it, hence he usually gets into trouble 
because he has not got the power of analysis as it is called. 

The Second Difficulty: Inability to Arrange the Work in an 
Effective Instructional Order. In teaching a trade a great 
many things must be taught to the learner one after the other. 
That is, the different things which the instructor wishes to 
put over must be handled in some order. In a general way 
almost anybody will recognize the desirability of giving "easy 
work" before giving "hard work," but beyond that general 
notion few mechanical instructors go unless they know how to 
arrange the work in the most effective instructional order. A 
further difficulty is that, if they do undertake to arrange it in 
an effective order they usually work it out from the standpoint 
of difficulty in production, which is all right for a production 
job, but all wrong for an instruction job, because the instructor 
must figure his order on the basis of the things which make it 
difficult for the learner to acquire, which is a very different 
thing from the question of the difficulties of doing a job. The 
instructor must determine learning difficulties; not production 
difficulties. Failure to take in this distinction between the two 
kinds of difficulties commonly results in getting an inefficient 
instructional order of instruction, when any order is laid out. 

Training for the Instructing Job. People who make a 
business of teaching have found out how to go to work to get 



THE PRODUCER AND THE INSTRUCTOR 41 

what they wished to teach into an effective instructional order 
and how to determine just what must be taught. These 
methods and rules for going at this job are well known to 
instructors in schools but, naturally, the man who comes onto 
an instruction job directly from the trade does not know them 
and so does not know how to go at this part of his job as an 
instructor. He really has to learn a new trade with new opera- 
tions and new tools. He can be greatly helped in getting hold 
of his new trade if he can learn it with the help of an "old 
hand" at the teaching trade. Where this can be done the 
prospective instructor can secure help in getting his instructor 
training. Where he cannot get such help and must train 
himself, the job is more difficult but he can get considerable 
help from the following notes. 

This part deals with that side of the instructor's job which 
concerns itself with the determination and classification of what 
is to be taught to the learner in a given trade. 

Under these conditions the suggestions for self-training in 
the Appendix will be of value. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE FIRST OPERATION. THE DETERMINATION OF 
WHAT IS TO BE TAUGHT 

The Trade Analysis. The first operation in the work of 
an instructor is to determine what he has to teach to train a 
learner for the trade that he is to be taught. If only a portion 
of the trade is to be taught, (as might be the case with a man 
who partly knew the trade) or where a man is to be trained in 
some portion of the trade, (specialized operations, for example) 
which might come up under some conditions, the instructor 
must determine, out of all the things that should be taught 
for the complete trade just what things must be taught in that 
particular case. The instructor must not only be able to take 
account of stock for the whole trade but must be able to de- 
termine what will be required for any part of the trade. If 
the learner is to be trained for a house carpenter, or a tool 
maker, or a printer, just what must he know and be able to 
do when the instructing process is completed? If he is to be 
trained as a special machine operator, just what must be 
taught him so that he can do that job as well as it can be done? 
If in printing, he is to be trained for some special branch of 
the trade, as compositor or press feeder, what part of the whole 
printing trade must be put over? If a man is to be trained to 
make sheet metal pipes and elbows, just what must he be 
taught out of all that a first class sheet metal man needs to 
know, before the instructor will "stand" for him as a com- 
petent man in that special work? In order to be able to an- 
swer such questions the instructor must know exactly what 
he must put over in each case, and so must take "account of 
stock." Unless he does this he can, at best, only guess at what 
the learner should be given to fit the requirements of each case. 

Such a stock taking is commonly called analyzing the trade 

42 



DETERMINATION OF WHAT IS TO BE TAUGHT 43 

and is the first operation which the instructor must take in 
laying out a course of instruction. 

What is Meant by Analyzing the Trade. Analyzing the 
trade simply means listing out all the things that the learner 
must be taught if he is to be taught the complete trade. If 
the trade is that of a carpenter, the instructor notes down all 
the different jobs that a carpenter has to do. If it is plumbing, 
or book binding, or machine shop work, the same listing of 
jobs must be carried out. If, in addition to the jobs them- 
selves, there are certain special words (technical terms) whose 
use he must learn, or special tools whose names he must know, 
or constructions or computations which he must be able to 
make or special safety precautions that he riiust take, these 
must also be listed completely out. 

The point in each case is to make a complete list of all that 
the man must know when the instructor has trained him for 
the complete trade. If less than the complete trade is to be 
taught then the problem is to pick out what is required in that 
case from the complete "trade list." 

Laying out More than One Course of Instruction. An 
instructor in a training department often has to instruct more 
than one sort of learner. For example, an instructor in print- 
ing, if he is competent, may have to instruct one group of 
learners who are to be compositors, another group who are to 
be trained for linotype operators, and another group who are 
to be pressmen. Under some conditions it might be necessary 
for the same instructor to train different groups in different 
stages of progress in the same trade; or in different specialized 
parts of the same trade. In all such cases, a distinct analysis 
must be made for each line of instruction. Where partial 
trades are to be taught, a special line of instruction must be 
laid out, only, as pointed out above, in this case, the special 
instruction material can be taken out of the course of instruc- 
tion for the complete trade. 

The essential point is that the instructor must first know 
what sorts of training he has to give and then lay out lines of 
instruction for each sort of training. In order to do this he 
must be able to make the necessary analys2s. 



44 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Where work is cairied on by a gang, as in riveting in a ship- 
yard, or in blacksmithing, the instructor should make as many 
analyses as there are different jobs in the gang, and not make 
one analysis for the work of a whole gang. For example, in the 
case of the riveting gang mentioned above, one analysis should 
be made for the job of the heater, another for the riveter, a 
third for the passer and a fourth for the holder on. The same 
method of going at it would be followed for other gang trades. 

The Instructor Must Do this Job. In making these analyses 
the instructor uses entirely his knowledge of his trade. He 
simply picks out from all his trade knowledge what he con- 
siders necessary to put over for a given instructing job. Evi- 
dently this work can only be properly done by a man who 
thoroughly knows his trade. Only another man who knows 
as much about the trade as he does can help him in this. The 
work requires considerable time, because a man, even if he 
knows the trade thoroughly will seldom list out all necessary 
points the first, or even the second time. 

Summary. The line of instruction must be based on an 
analysis of what is to be taught. This the instructor gets at 
by looking at his trade from the outside and listing all the 
jobs, special terms, calculations, etc., which he must somehow 
put over to the learner. Nobody can help him in this; he must 
get it from his own knowledge of his trade. (He might, of 
course, get some help by talking it over with another man in 
his own trade.) If the instructor is to instruct more than one 
sort of learner, as many analyses must be made as there are 
distinct lines of instruction to be given. 



DETERMINATION OF WHAT IS TO BE TAUGHT 



45 



THE CLASSIFICATION OF TRADE KNOWLEDGE 



Man is Paid for Doing 



Jobs. . 



. . . Production Jobs. 
. . Service Jobs 



. .Technical Jobs.. 



.Trade Drawing. 



.Trade Mathematics 
, Trade Judgment. 



. Assembling 
. Shaping 
. Forming 
. Miscellaneous 

. Sketching 
. Making 
. Reading 

. Problems 

. Constructions 

.Special Methods 



Man is not paid 
for having 



Auxiliary Knowledge. 



but is paid for doing jobs 
which he could not do well 
unless he possessed and "sed 
auxiliary knowledge. 



. Trade Terms 

.Trade Science 
.Knowledge of Stock 



.Safety First. 



. Care of Tools and 
Equipment 



. Material 
. Machines 
. Location 
. Operation 
, Special 

Recognition 
, Working Properties 



. Ignorance 
. Carelessness 
. Accidental 
, Occupational 



. In use 
. Not in use 
, Prevention of loss 
Prevention of waste 



CHAPTER VH 

THE CLASSIFICATION OF WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT. 
THE SECOND OPERATION IN GETTING OUT A 
LINE OF INSTRUCTION 

Preliminary. The previous chapter discussed the ques- 
tion of determining what the learner must be taught if he is 
to be trained for any given trade or particular line of work. 
For each case the instructor must determine what that learner 
must know and what he must be able to do when the period 
of instruction is completed. These various things however 
are of more than one kind, and the next step is to divide all the 
things that the learner must be taught into different sorts or 
classes. That is, the content must be classified. This process 
corresponds to sorting out bolts into different sizes, or dis- 
tributing type or mail. In a sense we label a set of pigeon 
holes and sort out what we intend to teach into the different 
compartments according to the label on each compartment. 
According to its character this thing goes into one compart- 
ment and that thing goes into another compartment. 

The Importance of Getting Properly Classified Analysis. 
Getting out a correct and complete analysis and then classify- 
ing correctly is the key to the whole problem of getting an 
effective order of instruction. If the analysis is not complete 
the instructor will omit things that the man should be taught 
if he is to be completely trained. If it is not correct, the man 
will be improperly trained and cannot do his jobs properly. 
If the jobs that are to be put over are not properly classified, 
the instructor will not know how to choose the best methods 
of instruction for the different kinds of lessons, he will not know 
how to choose proper teaching conditions for instruction and 
he will not know whether what he wishes to give to a learner 
in any given case should be taught him or merely given to 
him as information. He will not be able to distinguish between 

46 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 47 

the things that must be taught as a part of the job itself, and 
the auxiliary material which should not be taught in separate 
lessons but "hung onto the job" by the method described 
Jater. 1 One of the chief reasons for inefficient instruction 
is that instructors are unable or unwilling to take time to 
thoroughly work out the classification and analysis of the lines 
of instruction which they have to teach. They never know 
exactly where they are. One of the chief differences between 
a good instructor and a poor instructor is that the former does 
base his instruction on properly worked out and classified 
instruction material and the latter does not. 

Classification Labels. The term job means anything that 
a man is paid to do. Reading a blueprint is a job, running 
an automatic machine is a job, setting type is a job. It should 
be noted that something may be a job for one man and not for 
another, according as he is or is not paid for doing it. A blue- 
print man is paid for making blueprints. That is his job, but 
it would not be a job for a machinist. 

The Different Sorts of Jobs. If we look carefully at the 
different sorts of jobs which men are paid to do we find that 
they are not all of the same kind; one class of jobs such as 
pattern making, gear cutting, paper box making, type setting, 
high power machine work require the working up of stock; 
the stock is in some different shape or form than it was at the 
beginning of the job, or, after the job was finished, the different 
parts were arranged in some definite relation to each other 
that had been determined in advance. We will call such jobs 
production jobs. 

Another sort of job, such as reading a blueprint, or making 
a lay out for a sheet metal job do not themselves result in the 
working up of stock, but are necessary for the doing of pro- 
duction jobs. We will call jobs of this sort technical jobs. 

A third sort of job, such as that of the power house man, 
the steam engineer, the crane operator, while they do not con- 
tribute directly to the getting out of the product, make it 
easier or less expensive. We might operate a heavy shop 
without power cranes, but we would do it much more slowly 

' Chapter XIII, Part III. 



48 THE INSTRUCTOR 

and it would cost much more. We could, perhaps, carry the 
material around with gangs of men, but we would lose time 
and spend more money on the job. We will call such jobs 
service jobs. 

Service Trades and Production Trades. In general, in 
most industrial plants there are trades that consist of service 
jobs and trades that consist of production jobs. Under ordin- 
ary conditions it seems probable that much more training will 
be required for production jobs than for service jobs. While 
the methods of instructional procedure would be the same for 
both classes of trades, this book deals more directly with 
instruction for production trades. Such modifications as 
would be required for service trades will readily suggest them- 
selves to an instructor. 

Trade Jobs and Technical Jobs. In the practice of nearly, 
if not all trades, both technical and production jobs are called 
for. In some trades there are many technical jobs, as in sheet 
metal work, or in mould loft work in a shipyard, in some 
cases there are none, as in operating special machines or in 
most textile jobs, such as weaving or spinning. Anything is 
a job, however, (as defined in this book) provided it is some- 
thing that a man is paid to do. Whether it is a technical job 
or a production job is a matter for further classification. The 
chief value of being able to distinguish between the two classes 
of jobs is that in instructing, matters of selection of method 
and determination of the best place where the instruction can 
be given are largely affected by the class of the job which is to 
be taught. 

Classes of Production Jobs. Production jobs may be 
divided into assembling jobs, shaping jobs, forming jobs and 
miscellaneous -jobs. Under ordinary conditions in any plant 
each trade consists mainly of jobs of one kind, so that we have 
assembling, shaping trades and forming trades. In each of these 
trades there may be a few jobs that do not agree with the basis 
of the classification for that trade; that is, in a shaping trade, 
for example, there may be a few jobs that are not shaping jobs, 
although they are performed by a man who follows that trade. 
Such jobs would be classed as miscellaneous jobs for that trade. 



CLASSIFICATION OP WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 49 

Since each kind of trade, under the above classification, 
needs somewhat different treatment when it comes to laying 
out a course of instruction, some of the chief characteristics 
are discussed in the following paragraphs. 

Assembling Jobs. An assembling job calls for the putting 
together of parts that some other workers have turned out. 
Such trades as type setting, plumbing, installing, brick laying 
or setting stone work would come into this classification. After 
assembling, the parts are just the same as they were before, 
so far as they themselves go, but they are arranged in certain 
relations to each other so as to form an assembled product. 
(A brick wall, a page of type, a shoe, for example.) 

It is evident that a man in an assembling trade must know 
the names of a great variety of parts and must be familiar 
with a great many names which indicate location, relation to 
some other part, etc. 

As will come out later the assembling trades work out, for a 
line of instruction, quite differently from the other production 
trades. Machines and tools are usually simple, skill comes 
mainly in the ability to adjust parts correctly, or to fasten 
them properly when they have been adjusted in place. 

Shaping Jobs. In a shaping job the form of the stock is 
not changed but the shape of it is. Thus, for example, a 
plumber or a coppersmith, in bending lead pipe changes the 
shape of the pipe but not its form. A pipe that has been bent 
into a curve is still a pipe, but its shape has been changed. 

Forming Jobs. In forming jobs the stock is formed by 
some method, as in the case of the blacksmith or foundry man. 
A lead pipe when bent could still be recognized as a lead pipe 
but a piece of bar iron made into a horseshoe would not be so 
recognizable. The pipe has been shaped the bar has been 
formed. In working with steel these forming jobs often require 
the use of heat. 

The forming job usually requires less general knowledge 
of locations, but does call for more skill in the use of the special 
tools of the trade, and often in the application of more auxiliary 
knowledge. 



50 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Miscellaneous Jobs. As already stated in any trade there 
are liable to be some jobs that do not agree with the charac- 
teristics of the trade or which may even seem to belong to 
another sort of trade. For example in house carpentry, which 
is essentially an assembling trade where the stock comes ready 
milled, it might be necessary to get out some wedges, which 
would be a forming job. Such a job would be classified as a 
miscellaneous one for the house carpenter's trade. 

Classification of Technical Jobs. As already stated, a 
technical job contributes to the getting out of the production 
job but does not, itself, result in the forming or shaping or 
assembling of stock. Reading the blueprint for dimensions or 
shapes would be a job of this character. Figuring the offset 
for turning a taper would be another. Figuring the gears on 
a screw cutting lathe would be another. Making the con- 
structions for getting out a pattern for sheet metal work would 
be another. 

Kinds of Technical Jobs. Almost all, if not all technical 
jobs require either the interpretation (reading) of a drawing 
or sketch or call for some form of calculation. That is, they 
are either jobs in the use of sketches or blueprints or they are 
jobs in calculations. They are either trade drawing jobs or they 
are trade mathematics jobs. A third class of technical job 
occasionally occurs in certain trades which calls for knowledge 
of a condition, such as the job of temperer, judging when a 
piece of steel is at the correct heat for tempering. Such tech- 
nical jobs, when they are found, nearly always call for some 
knowledge of science or for skill and knowledge in the adjust- 
ment of parts. 

Trade Drawing. In certain trades such as machine shop 
work or pattern making practically all information comes from 
the designer to the workman in the form of the blueprint. 
Whenever a blueprint is read we have a technical job. Such 
jobs occur much more often in some trades than in others, for 
example in the machine shop work as against the work of the 
anglesmith, working from a templet. The printer has no call 
to use the blueprint, the roof framer has. In some trades there 
would therefore be no trade drawing at all, and in others there 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 51 

would be considerable. The instructor must determine in 
each case, if there are any jobs requiring trade drawing in 
the particular trade that he has under consideration; if he 
decides that there are no jobs of that character, he should 
cross trade drawing out of his "stock in trade," if there are, 
he must include such technical jobs in the list of jobs that 
he prepares. 

If any drawing is included in the trade the instructor must 
determine whether it is sketching, or blueprint reading and if 
it is sketching, whether the demand is for the making of 
sketches, or the reading of sketches, or both. 

Mechanical Drawing. Outside of the training of drafts- 
men and others for the drafting room there is little likelihood 
that there is any demand for the making of regular mechanical 
drawings in the ordinary run of instruction work in industrial 
plants. A trade instructor is not likely to be called upon to 
lay out a regular course in mechanical drawing even in the 
training of apprentices. 

The test, in each case is that the sort of drawing (if any), that 
is included in the training course is the sort of drawing that 
the man actually uses in connection with the doing of his job. 
If he has to read the drawing only, he should be trained only 
in the reading, if he has to make sketches, he should be trained 
only in that; if he has to read sketches only, he should be 
trained only to read them. Under good instructional condi- 
tions, the industrial instructor will not waste any time in in- 
structing a man in anything that he will not actually need to 
use and apply in the work for which he is being trained. 

Many shop instructors have a tendency to desire to train 
in regular mechanical drawing regardless of whether the man 
will u?e it in his trade or not. That is, they tend to want to 
train men out of the shop and into the drafting room; to make 
draftsmen out of them instead of workmen. While a knowl- 
edge of mechanical drawing is undoubtedly of value to any 
man engaged in mechanical pursuits, work of this character 
should seldom or never become a part of the work of the shop 
instructor, since the ability of a man to make a mechanical 
drawing seldom is a job in his trade. Blueprint reading, and 
sketching, are much more likely to be included in the work of 



52 THE INSTRUCTOR 

the instructor. Courses in mechanical drawing are often 
available in the evening courses conducted in many cities and 
towns. If a man in the plant desires to put in some of his own 
time in taking such a course, he might well be encouraged to 
do so, but his time in the training work of the shop should be 
spent only on the sort of jobs that are included in the job or 
the trade for which the training is given. 

Trade Problems. Certain trades require some form of 
mathematical work in connection with the doing of some 
technical jobs. Laying off patterns in sheet metal work, is, in 
reality, a form of geometrical work. The sheet metal worker 
uses what is known as descriptive geometry in making his 
layouts, because he lays out in the flat to get a form that is 
in the round, or square, as a tank or a pipe. The machinist 
makes certain arithmetical calculations in connection with his 
work as when he "figures" the offset for turning a taper or 
works out the data for setting an index head. Even the use of 
a rule is a form of mathematical work, as when a carpenter 
measures a piece of stock. In its simplest form even counting 
is a form of mathematical work. 

In listing out mathematical jobs, it must be remembered 
that whenever measurements or calculations have to be made, 
or patterns laid out some form of mathematics is used. The 
instructor must not think of algebra or geometry, as taught in 
the schools as the mathematics that he is looking for in analyz- 
ing his trade. Instructors often fail to recognize the fact that 
the simple calculations or constructions or measurements which 
are used in their trade are mathematics at all. They are 
thinking only of "school" mathematics, and because they do 
not use algebraic equations or geometrical demonstrations in 
their work, they will say that their trade uses no mathematics 
at all. 

Special Devices. In nearly all cases the shop or trade 
mathematics is worked out by certain special trade processes 
or with certain special tools or devices. For example, the 
machinist uses a table of squares or of decimal equivalents 
for his work, the printer uses the em scale, the steam engineer 
determines horse power by the use of the indicator card. In 



CLASSIFICATION OP WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 53 

only few cases will the "school method" of doing the work be 
the same that is followed in the trade. This is why the man 
who comes into the shop from a school generally cannot 
"figure out" things as they are figured out in the trade. His 
method, which he has learned in school is often not the method 
of the trade. This is also the reason why there is little use in 
teaching the regular "school" mathematics to apprentices or 
learners. 

In general, the trade mathematics for any given trade has 
been worked out so that as little time as possible is used up 
in this sort of work. Tables, formulae, special methods of all 
kinds are really time saving devices. 

The Question of Accuracy. As just stated trade mathe- 
matics is usually worked out by the method that will save the 
most time. In industry, nobody works out mathematical 
problems for the sake of doing them, but because the result of 
the work is needed to do the job. Unlike "school" work, in 
industry no time is wasted in getting a result that is more 
accurate than is necessary. The carpenter does not figure 
stock to 1-1000 of an inch; the templet is not laid out to a 
small fraction of an inch; in each case the problem is only 
worked to the degree of accuracy that the job requires, and 
no time is taken for further accuracy. Methods in many cases 
are only approximate; they give results near enough for the 
needs of the job and therefore serve the purpose sufficiently. 

Trade Mathematics in Various Trades. In general, the 
skilled trades call for more technical jobs in mathematics than 
the semi-skilled, yet even these vary. Sheet metal work has 
more jobs of this kind than printing, for example. Paper box 
making, high power machine work, etc., have few if any 
technical jobs of this class. Automatic machine work has, of 
course, practically no jobs of this character. 

Analyzing the Trade for Trade Mathematics. In analyzing 
his trade for the trade mathematics the instructor should first 
make sure that there is any mathematics in it, and if there is, 
look carefully for the sort of technical jobs in which it comes 
up. He is most likely to omit the simpler jobs because he will 
not think of them as being mathematical jobs at all. 



54 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Auxiliary Material. In addition to the mathematics and 
the drawing we have to consider what may be called the 
auxiliary knowledge or information which the learner must 
be given in some way. In general this auxiliary material, as it 
may be called, will consist of a knowledge of trade terms, of a 
few simple scientific facts, mainly connected with the effects 
of heat on material, a knowledge of the working properties of 
stock and the ability to pick out one kind or another, a knowl- 
edge of the precautions which must be taken to avoid accidents 
and the ability to take care of tools and equipment. Infor- 
mation as to such points as are noted above unquestionably 
contributes to the effective doing of the job, but the application 
of such information by the workman does not constitute either 
a production or a technical job as defined in these notes. 

That is, the possession of information as to the care of tools, 
and the using of that information so as to save abuse or loss, 
while a valuable asset to the workman, is not, in the strict 
sense of the word, doing a job. It is therefore, for convenience, 
classified as auxiliary material, because, while the application 
of this knowledge is essential to the doing of the job, the man 
is not directly paid for having the knowledge, but he is paid 
for doing the job. For example: A draftsman is paid for 
making a working drawing. He makes it in order that all 
necessary information may go to the man who is going to welt 
in the shop. He is supposed to put all that information on the 
drawing, but he is not careful to make all his lettering and his 
figures plain: for example, he does not put the different dimen- 
sional numbers on in the proper place or according to the 
standard usage of the plant. If he does this because he does 
not know the proper way of making his figures, or the correct 
method of placing them, or that all figures should be given, he 
has not got that particular auxiliary knowledge. If he knew 
how to do it right, but did not do it right, he has failed to apply 
his auxiliary knowledge. In either case he has not done as 
good a job as the man who had acquired and applied this 
auxiliary knowledge, because he has turned out a drawing that 
is more likely to cause error and waste, and to slow up produc- 
tion. Putting the proper dimensions, etc., on the drawing 
was one of the operations connected with the doing of the job 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 55 

of getting it out, but knowing how to mark it correctly and 
marking it correctly was an application of correct auxiliary 
information. The man is paid to mark the drawing; he is ex- 
pected to know how to mark it correctly. That is, he is ex- 
pected to possess the necessary information as to the correct 
method of lettering, location of the different dimensional figures 
hi the proper place, and to apply this knowledge. Doing this 
is not, however, in itself, a job. 

Auxiliary Material: Trade Terms. By trade terms is 
meant all the special words that are used in any given trade or 
occupation in connection with talking about the work or doing 
the job. Each trade has its own set of such trade term's. 
(Such terms are often designated as technical terms.) Often a 
man who belongs to one trade will not know any of the terms 
of another trade, nor does he need to know them so far as 
following his own trade is concerned. 

Classification of Trade Terms. In general trade terms will 
relate either to material, machines, locations or operations. 
There are usually a few terms in any trade that do not come 
under any of the above classifications and which may be desig- 
nated as special terms. 

Location Terms. In the shipyard such terms as Starboard, 
Port, Forward, Aft, etc., as used by the sailor, ground floor, 
second floor, valley, cellar, attic, as used by the house carpenter 
would be illustrations of these terms. Some trades, as that of 
the machinist, use fewer location terms than other trades such 
as shipyard trades, but practically all trades use some special 
location terms, which the learner must in some way learn 
how to use in connection with his work, and which must be 
listed out and provided for in the course of instruction. 

Tool and Machine Terms. Any trade using machines and 
tools has special names for those machines, for different tools 
for the parts of such machines. The machinist has the shaper, 
the planer, the knurling tool. The ship fitter has the templet, 
the puncher the tit punch, the wood mill man has the pony 
planer, the buzz saw, the mortiser, the band saw. The pipe 
fitter has the Stillson wrench. The driller and reamer has the 
old man. The printer has the stick, the tinsmith the iron. 



56 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The learner must acquire the machine and the tool terms for 
his trade and be able to use them properly. 

Operation Terms. All trades that carry on operations have 
special names for the different operations. The printer justi- 
fies and makes ready. The machinist makes a rough cut, or a 
fine cut, the jointer takes the wind out of a piece of stock, the 
pipe fitter makes up a joint. The learner must become 
familiar with the operation terms for his trade and must 
connect them in his mind with the operations which they 
designate. In making the analysis and classification, con- 
siderable care should be used to get all terms of this class, 
since they play so important a place in the giving and under- 
standing of instructions. 

Material Terms. All trades use special terms to distin- 
guish the different kinds of materials with which the work is 
done. Such terms as snap or flush rivets, phosphor bronze, 
mild steel, hard pine, ten penny nail, cut nail, channel bar, 
news stock, soft solder, are illustrations of this sort of term. 
As in the case of operation terms their use in the giving of 
important instructions makes their careful listing particularly 
desirable. 

Special Terms. Terms that cannot be otherwise classified 
may be designated as special terms for that trade. Terms 
falling under this classification are usually very few and of 
minor importance. 

Auxiliary Material: Trade Science. In determining the 
existence or non-existence of science items in the auxiliary 
information called for by a given trade a sharp distinction 
should be made between specific applications of general 
scientific principles with which the learner must be familiar 
in order to do the job, and the general principles themselves. 
The specific facts, if necessary, should be listed, but general 
principles should not be included in the analysis for shop 
instruction. Of such specific scientific items probably the 
electrical and machine shop trades will show as much as any. 
The instructor will, in general, find little or no science in his 
trade analysis. It is true that many trade operations involve 
the application of some scientific principle, but in only rela- 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 57 

lively few cases will a knowledge of the scientific facts lying 
back of the operation in any way help the man to do his job. 
Regular courses in science, such as are taught in the school 
have practically no value in this sort of work, even in the 
training of apprentices. An instructor should be very sure 
that any "science" that he lists down is of actual value in 
shop training before he includes it in the auxiliary material 
with which he proposes to deal. There are for example un- 
doubtedly a large number of scientific facts connected with the 
work of a temperer, such as combustion, oxydation, the 
changes in properties of metals produced by a rise in tempera- 
ture, but all that the temperer needs to be able to do is to 
recognize the right color. A knowledge of the scientific facts 
mentioned above would not help him to do his job in the 
slightest degree, hence it would be entirely useless to include 
them in the auxiliary knowledge that was to be included in a 
course of instruction for temperers. 

On the other hand in machine shop work certain scientific 
facts such as those relating to friction in bearings, the principle 
of the lever as it affects the tool in the tool post, have a direct 
value. A knowledge of the relation of the direction of warp- 
ing to the heart or sap side of stock is of value to the pattern 
maker, and such facts would be included in the auxiliary 
information listed for those trades. 

Auxiliary Material; Knowledge of Stock. All production 
trades require the working up of stock. In practically every 
trade there is more than one kind of stock and the workman 
must be able to recognize the different kinds. The different 
kinds of stock have different working properties and this fact 
often requires modifications of operations or different opera- 
tions according to the particular sort of stock used. Provision 
must therefore be made to see that the learner is able to recog- 
nize the different kinds of stock which he will come in contact 
with, and that he will be familiar with the working properties 
so far as they actually affect the doing of the jobs in his trade. 

Instructors should be careful to list down only those things 
relating to recognition of stock and its working properties, 
which will be of actual value to the man in doing his jobs. 
Many instructors tend to include in this classification much 



58 THE INSTRUCTOR 

material which has no value in shop training, because they 
think that there ought to be considerable material of this sort 
in their trade when it really is not there, or they think that 
"it would be nice for the men to know it." As in the case of 
mechanical drawing, it is undoubtedly true that properly 
arranged courses in general science (physics, chemistry, 
applied mechanics) have a value to the mechanic, and where 
such courses are available in the evening, men may well be 
encouraged to attend them, but science work of this kind 
should not be considered as a part of the shop training 
proper. 

Safety First. In practically all trades there is more or less 
danger of accidents to the operator, to the machine, to the 
helper or bystander. Different trades vary greatly in the 
relative danger to the man on the job and to others. Dangers 
in the machine shop are confined almost entirely to the opera- 
tor. In the steel mill, in general, the reverse conditions exist 
whether involving danger to the operator, the bystander, or 
both, in shop training special attention should be given to 
matters relating to the prevention of accident. Every acci- 
dent that puts a man or a machine out of business slows up 
production to that extent so that proper training in '* safety 
first" is an important factor from the production standpoint. 

Most accidents are due to the lack of training in habits tend- 
ing to prevent carefulness or to ignorance. The antidotes 
therefore are training and instruction, both of which are part 
of the job of the trade instructor. 

Accidents are of two kinds, involving danger to the man on 
the job or to others. They may be classified as due to any one 
of four causes, namely: ignorance, carelessness, accidents, and 
occupational dangers. 

Occupational Dangers. There are some trades that can- 
not be followed without subjecting the worker to danger. 
After all precautions have been taken, and the workers are 
fully instructed in "safety first," there still are certain 
dangers that "go with the job." Operating a circular saw, 
operating a blast furnace, working in a lead factory, filling 
shells with T. N. T., marine diving, are instances of trades 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 59 

which involve occupational dangers. Usually occupational 
dangers involve the worker himself and not others. 

Accidental Dangers. An accidental danger is one that could 
not be foreseen but arises out of some unexpected situation. 
If a belt that has been properly inspected breaks causing in- 
jury to someone, this is an accidental danger. Such dangers 
usually involve both the worker and others. 

Dangers Due to Ignorance. A workman on a speed lathe 
job does not know that if his tail stock center is not properly 
oiled, it is liable to burn out, letting the stock fly, putting both 
himself and others in danger. A painter, not knowing how to 
place the supports under his scaffold properly, tips off from one 
end, injuring himself or damaging passersby on the ground. A 
mill man on a buzz saw, does not know the danger of a back 
snop, and an accident occurs as a result. Such accidents as 
those just cited can be prevented by training the learner so 
that he will use the proper precautions to avoid them. They 
are accidents due to ignorance regarding the precautions that can 
be taken to prevent them and will be avoided if a man has been 
properly trained in taking the necessary precautions on the 
job. 

Dangers Due to Carelessness. If a man has been properly 
trained in taking necessary precautions and an accident occurs 
because he does not take the precautions that he was trained 
to take, if he knew but didn't think, or knew and "took a 
chance, " the accident was due to carelessness. Accidents of 
this character are much more likely to occur with experienced 
men than with inexperienced men. In this case as in the others 
accidents may do injury to the man on the job or to others. 

Care of Tools and Equipment. Wherever tools are used 
there is always an opportunity for the taking of precautions 
to prevent loss or abuse. If these precautions are taken the 
work is speeded up; if they are neglected, the work is slowed 
up. In the same way, if tools are abused or are so carelessly 
handled that they are put out of commission, the working 
equipment is reduced and the amount of the product di- 
minished. 

Matters relating to the care of tools and equipment classify 



60 THE INSTRUCTOR 

in general, into four lists: (1) care of tools and equipment in 
use, (2) care when not in use, (3) the prevention of loss, and 
(4) the prevention of waste. In all these cases there is more or 
less auxiliary knowledge that the instructor should list out 
and plan to include in his course of training. It is evident 
that the greater the extent of the equipment, the more expen- 
sive the tools, the more delicate the mechanism, the greater 
the value of such training, but in all cases there is some know- 
ledge that should be given to the learner and which he should 
be trained to apply in connection with his jobs. 

Care of Tools in Use. Unless specially instructed, the 
average man, thinking only of doing his job is very likely to be 
careless in taking care of tools and equipment while in use. 
Even when he owns the tools himself he is often ignorant of 
the value of a little care during the progress of the job. Tools 
are left out over night, or are not put under cover when tem- 
porarily out of use; a man attempts to use a tool for something 
that it was not intended to be used for; he scatters his tools 
about during the progress of the job and when he wants a 
particular tool has to spend a lot of time finding it. Of course 
matters of this kind apply mainly to trades where hand or 
portable tools are used rather than where machines are the 
chief portion of the equipment. In operating machines a man 
will, often, through ignorance or carelessness, run a machine 
on an overload. He lets it run without proper lubrication. He 
"jams her through" and strains or in some other way causes 
an unnecessary depreciation or reduces the working capacity 
or the accuracy of that particular machine. He may even put 
it out of commission entirely. 

In all of these cases the average man, if his attention has 
been directed to the results of such abuse, and he has been 
given the necessary auxiliary knowledge and trained to apply 
it, so that he thinks about such matters, while he is doing the 
job, will take precautions to prevent improper running down 
of the tools or machines or other equipment with which he 
carries on his jobs. The instructor should carefully determine 
what points in his trade should be covered in this connection, 
and should list them out as a part of the auxiliary knowledge 
in his proposed course of instruction and training. 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 61 

Care of Tools when not in Use. Tools and equipment are 
often seriously damaged while out of use through lack of 
knowledge of how to protect them or through carelessness. 
The farmer leaves the mowing machine in the pasture till next 
year, certain machines in the machine shop are shut down for 
a period and are not "slushed down," a crane is laid up and is 
not properly protected, machines temporarily out of use are 
allowed to stand and rust. 

In the case of hand tools the same general conditions will 
often prevail; jacks are left lying where they were used last 
until somebody wants them, small equipment units are not 
turned back to the tool room as soon as they are no longer 
needed but are left lying around to be exposed to the weather; 
small tools are not protected as they should be, for example, 
the tool room boy does not keep the micrometers covered with 
vaseline, or wrenches are not kept properly oiled when stored 
in the tool room. 

In all such cases the precautions that should be taken to 
avoid such damage should be listed by the instructor; the 
necessary information to prevent such abuse determined, 
and included in the auxiliary material to be put over in 
connection with the instruction in the trade that is to be 
handled. 

The Prevention of Loss. As distinguished from the abuse 
of equipment we have the loss of equipment; this, of course, 
occurring mainly in the case of hand or portable tools and 
small pieces of equipment. A man is using a crowbar; in the 
hurry of getting the job done he throws it down when he is 
through with it and forgets all about it. It is lost track of and 
for the time being, so much is gone out of the available equip- 
ment. A little later when another job calls for a bar it is held 
up because they are short on bars, and the whole production 
program may suffer. The learner must be trained to think of 
such things; he must be informed as to proper methods of 
procedure as to turning in equipment when he is through with 
it and he must be turned out of the training course so informed 
and trained that slowing up of production and increased cost 
due to loss will be reduced to a minimum. The instructor 
must therefore, as in the other cases, list out the cases where 



62 THE INSTRUCTOR 

tools are liable to be lost in the work of his trade and make 
provision for including this auxiliary information in his job 
instruction in his program of instruction. 

The Prevention of Waste. Stock and tools cost money. 
A man who is careless about waste can easily appreciably 
increase the cost of production. Multiply the waste of one 
man by thousands, and you have a large sum. Suppose that 
one man, through lack of proper training wastes five dollars 
worth of stock in a week; in a year this means two hundred 
and fifty dollars. If one thousand men are employed, this 
means a quarter of a million dollars in a year. As in the other 
cases the ways in which an untrained man will cause waste and 
the information that he needs to avoid such waste must be 
listed out by the instructor and included in his plan for 
instruction for that trade or occupation. 

Some General Suggestions. Simply telling a man what 
precautions to take to avoid abuse of tools or waste of stock 
will do little good. "Bawling him out" when he does fail to 
take proper precautions will do still less. Abuse and waste 
will be reduced in proportion as the instructor succeeds in 
getting the men interested in these points and in bringing 
about a "state of mind" on the part of the learner so that he 
will apply the information which is given him in connection 
with the training work and will apply it intelligently. If the 
man can be got to see what waste and abuse mean in terms of 
loss of time, slowing up of production, loss of money that might 
go to the doing of more work, a great deal can be done by a 
shop instructor to cut down losses of this kind. Much will 
depend on the skill and ability of the instructor in handling 
this problem, but as a starting point he must determine what 
the "danger points" for waste and abuse are for his trade and 
get them included in his "inventory." 

This Chapter Deals entirely with Classification. It should 
be noted that this chapter deals entirely with the classification 
of the material that the instructor determines should, in some 
way, be included in the course of instruction and training that 
he proposes to put over for a given trade. It does not deal 
with the methods by which any part of this material is to be 



CLASSIFICATION OF WHAT MUST BE TAUGHT 63 

put over, or how it can be best arranged for effective putting 
over. These points are discussed in following chapters. 

Analysis and Classification on Specialized Work. According 
to the trade or job to be taught the analysis may require a 
great deal of work or very little. Getting out the complete 
analysis for a skilled trade, such as machine shop work, is a 
considerable piece of work. On semi-skilled jobs it is very 
simple, there are few jobs, few trade terms and so on. For 
automatic machine work the analysis is still simpler. In all 
cases however the process of analyzing and classifying what 
the man should know should be gone through. It is as im- 
portant to do this on single, simple jobs^as when instruction is 
to be given in skilled trades sometimes covering hundreds of 
jobs. It is not a question of much or little but of knowing 
what there is. 




CHAPTER VIII 
THE DETERMINATION OF "BLOCKS" 

Preliminary. In carrying out the two preceding steps the 
instructor has analyzed and classified the job and the auxiliary 
knowledge and information which must, in some way, be 
put over to the learner. What has been done so far corre- 
sponds to taking account of stock in a store and classifying the 
stock according to the kind of goods. Just as a grocery store 
may have in stock sugar, tea, canned tomatoes, beans, rolled 
oats, etc., so the instructor has listed out his stock, the pro- 
duction jobs, the technical jobs, the trade terms, the safety 
first notions, etc., of the trade that he intends to teach. His 
stock in trade is now inventoried and classified. 

The Grouping of Teaching Jobs. The instruction to be 
given may include the entire range of a skilled trade, as in 
apprentice training, or part of a skilled trade, as in training 
for one branch of that trade (lathe hand, planer man in a wood 
mill, etc.). It may, on the other hand, only deal with one or 
more semi-skilled jobs, as in paper box making. It may only 
deal with one job, as in a munition factory. 

.Where there is only one job to be taught, and, in general, 
where semi-skilled trades are to be taught, the question of 
"blocking," as discussed in this chapter, will rarely come in. 
In the case of most skilled trades it is an important factor in 
laying out an effective plan for instruction. 

If a learner is to be taught a skilled trade, or a considerable 
part of such a trade, he has got to be instructed in a consider- 
able number of jobs, and under these conditions it is probable 
that these jobs can be grouped in in a way that will be most 
effective for easy progress of the learner. 

Where a learner is to be instructed in a certain number of 
jobs and trained to apply the necessary auxiliary material 
that goes with those jobs he has got to be "routed" through 

64 



THE DETERMINATION OF "BLOCKS" 65 

these jobs in some order. There are three ways of routing 
him through these jobs: (1) The jobs could be grouped in no 
determined order at all, but could be given in any way that 
they happened to be available; (2) The jobs could be grouped 
according to production difficulties; (3) They could be grouped 
according to the kind of learning difficulties that the learner 
would meet during the instructing process. As has already 
been stated the product of the instructing process is a trained 
man and not a production job. In the case of a production 
shop in routing jobs, the same three methods can be followed: 
(1) Jobs can be put onto any machines that happen to be 
available; (2) Jobs can be routed through the shop, not accord- 
ing to the requirements for the most efficient production, the 
saving of the most time, the minimum scrapping, but accord- 
ing to the requirements of some other department, say the 
shipping department; (3) Jobs can be routed according to the 
conditions that will give the best and most rapid production. 
The first method is essentially that of the old fashioned shop. 
The second method is ineffective because it is based on the 
requirements of something that has nothing to do with pro- 
duction; the third is the best, because it recognizes the re- 
quirements of the particular thing for which the production 
shop is run, viz. : getting out jobs. 

In the same way the instructor has the job of getting out 
trained men and may follow any one of three methods. (1) 
He may give his learners any work that may be available, 
without regard to its difficulties for the learner; (2) He may 
give his learners jobs in the order required for the most effec- 
tive production; (3) He may give his learners jobs in an order 
determined by the difficulties the learner would meet in 
mastering each successive job. The first method is bad, 
because it pays no regard to the conditions of efficient instruc- 
tion; the second method is bad because it is based on the 
requirements of something that has nothing to do with the 
instructor's job; (instruction) but is based on the requirements 
of something else (production) the third method is evidently 
the best because it is based on the requirements of effective 
instruction. The shop deals with production difficulties; the 
training department deals with instructing difficulties, and 



66 THE INSTRUCTOR 

must route its instructing jobs according to the best working 
conditions for that kind of a job, and not according to the 
working conditions of another kind of a job (production) with 
which the instructor has nothing directly to do. The problem 
of the training department is therefore to group its teaching 
jobs so that the instructional difficulties will be reduced to a 
minimum, just as it is the business of the shop to group its 
production jobs so that production difficulties will be reduced 
to a minimum. 

Blocks. In the case of the grocery store just used for illus- 
tration, after the stock has been inventoried and classified, 
there still remains the question of how this stock can be best 
arranged for convenient selling. In such a case it is often 
found that it helps both the salesman and the customer if the 
stock is arranged by departments, so that all the things that 
may meet a certain need are put into one part of the store. 
Thus in the grocery store used as an illustration above, it may 
be desirable to put all canned goods in one department, cereals 
in another, etc. This would probably be particularly true in 
the case of a store carrying a wide variety of stock. Where 
such a departmental arrangement is made, the classification 
basis for the department is something that all the goods in that 
department have in common; this may be a common buying 
difficulty on the part of the customer, that is, the sort of things 
that a woman is likely to want to buy together are put in the 
same department, or it may be that some matter of selling or 
shipping may determine the department "base." 

It may be true on the other hand that in the case of some 
particular store, say a tobacco store, that there is no need for a 
departmental lay out because all the stock is of the same kind, 
though it may vary in quality and price. For example, in a 
store selling only cigars. So we might say that there are 
"one department" and "multi department" stores. In 
arranging his stock for "sale" to the learner the instructor 
has the same sort of problem to face as has the manager of a 
store. His "stock in trade" may "sell" well if put into one 
department, or block as it is called, or it may be necessary, for 
good " selling conditions, " (instructing) to lay it out or arrange 
it in more than one "selling department" or block. Just as 



THE DETERMINATION OF " BLOCKS " 67 

the store manager must determine whether his stock is "single 
department" or "multi department" so the instructor must 
determine whether his stock in trade, (the instructional ma- 
terial that he has listed out and classified,) belongs to a single 
block or a multiblock trade, and, if the latter, what the block 
bases shall be. 

What is a Block? A block means a group of jobs which all 
offer to a learner the same kind of learning difficulties. All the 
jobs in a block call for the same kind of knowledge, or skill, or 
call for the use of the same kind of tools, or machines. Such a 
block may, in itself represent a complete course of training or 
it may be one of a number of blocks that are included in the 
required training course. Where blocking is called for and 
it has been properly done a learner can be carried through any 
block without having to be instructed in anything that is 
in any other block. For example, in machine shop work, a 
learner can be trained on any one of some twelve or fourteen 
machine tools without being instructed in anything relating 
to the operation of any machine except the one that he is 
being trained on. In many of the so-called skilled trades we 
find that such blocks are found, as in printing, where composi- 
tion, press work, stone work and machine work are some of the 
blocks. 

In printing, if it were decided that it was not necessary for 
a man to know anything about composition or stone work in 
order to do press work, or, that he need not know anything 
about composition or press work in order to be able to do stone 
work, or that he need not know anything about either to learn 
to operate a linotype, we would have more than one block in 
the printing trade and it would be a multiblock trade. On the 
other hand suppose that it was decided that in house painting 
or paper hanging all jobs were essentially of the same kind, the 
difference being in degree of learning difficulties only, (say 
working conditions, or degree of skill required), then those 
trades would be single block trades. 

A block may therefore be defined as a trade or a part of a 
trade, that can be taught as if it were a trade by itself. In 
fact, in many trades we find so-called "special branches" that 
really are blocks. 



68 THE INSTRUCTOR 

For example, in machine shop work milling might be one 
block, lathe work another, bench work another. A milling 
machine hand might know nothing about planer work and a 
planer hand might know nothing about milling, neither man 
need know about bench work, yet each man may be competent 
on his own set of jobs. A plumber might know how to handle 
rigid pipe with threaded joints, elbows and unions, and also 
how to handle lead pipe with wiped joints, but a knowledge 
of how to handle lead pipe would not help him to learn how to 
handle rigid pipe, nor would being able to handle rigid pipe 
help him in learning how to handle lead pipe. On the other 
hand, if he knew how to make up iron pipe it would help him 
greatly with brass pipe. Both iron and brass pipe work would 
therefore probably belong in the same block, but lead pipe 
work and rigid pipe work would probably belong in different 
blocks. A man who could splice manilla could learn to splice 
wire more rapidly than a man who could not splice at all, both 
manilla splicing and wire splicing belong in the same block. 
A knowledge of how to splice either manilla or wire would not 
help a man to learn how to rig up a three-fold tackle running 
to a winch, because these operations belong in different blocks 
of the riggers trade. 

A branch of a trade refers to the practice of that part of the 
trade. A block refers to a group of instructing jobs in that 
branch of the trade. The former is an operating term. The 
latter is an instructional term. 

What is a Block Base? What is termed the block base is the 
thing that all jobs in the block have in common which makes 
them have learning difficulties of the same kind. In printing, 
the pressman, no matter what particular job he is on always 
"goes at it" in the same way. It is more difficult to make up 
a form with half-tone cuts than with plain matter only, but 
it is the same sort of a job: the learning difficulties are differ- 
ent in degree but of the same kind. In this case we would 
say that the block base was press work. For instructing the 
machinist, one block base might be the lathe, another the 
planer, another the shaper, etc., since each machine, in its 
special construction, operation, special tools, and attachments 
offers the same kind of learning difficulties, but different jobs 






THE DETERMINATION OF "BLOCKS" (59 

on each machine offer these difficulties in different degrees. 
For a course of training in plumbing, one block base might be 
based upon work on rigid pipe, another upon work on flexible 
pipe, another might deal with vitrified pipe, etc. 

How the Block Base is Established. Block bases may be 
of various kinds. Among the most common are, (a) material, 
(b) operation, (c) construction. 

(a) Material In certain trades different branches or 
blocks, depend upon the character of the material used, because 
the characteristics of the material determines the nature of 
the operations. For example, iron or brass pipe, vitrified 
pipe and lead pipe differ so in their working properties that 
the handling of each forms a distinct branch of the trade, and 
distinct lines of instruction, or blocks can be laid out for each. 
That is, the block base, in this case, might be taken as kinds 
of pipe, and a line of instruction consisting of all jobs on any 
one sort of pipe together with the necessary auxiliary know- 
ledge to go with that special work, that is, a block, could be 
established on the base of kind of pipe since all jobs on any 
particular kind of pipe would offer the same sort of learning 
difficulties. 

(b) Operations Block bases for some trades can be based 
on operations. Here the man works with the same material 
but the operations are so different that knowing how to carry 
out one set will not help a man to learn how to go through 
another set. Thus, in printing, the compositor, the stone- 
man, the pressman and the machine operator all use type, but 
a knowledge of press-work is not required for machine operat- 
ing, or for composition or stone work. In the same way the 
machinist may work on the same stock with different machines, 
but the learning difficulties that a learner will meet on these 
different machines will not be due to the kind of stock to any 
great extent, but mainly to the construction and operation of 
the particular machine on which he is being trained, and to the 
special tools, adjustments, etc. 

Lathe hands, miller hands, bench hands, automatic machine 
operators all work on steel, but knowing how to operate an 
automatic screw machine would not help a man to learn how 
run a universal miller, because he must learn how to carry 



70 THE INSTRUCTOR 

out certain operations on each machine, and the fact that he 
works on steel in both cases does not affect the situation 
so far as learning difficulties and what he has to learn are 
concerned. So far as these points are concerned, he might 
as well have snagged castings or learned to chip and file. 
In such cases it is evident that the controlling factor, or the 
block base, is operations, since operations is the element that 
"splits up" the course of instruction into blocks. In a ship- 
yard, while it is true that riveters, bolters up, punch press men, 
drillers and reamers, all work on steel, the character of the 
material that they work on is not the important thing, as in 
the case of plumbing cited above, but the important thing, 
from the standpoint of blocking, is that the training is 
entirely determined by the character of the operations with 
which they must be made familiar and which they must be 
trained to carry out effectively. In such cases operations 
would determine the block base. 

While it is true that miller hands, planer hands, etc., all work 
on steel, mill men all work on wood, textile operatives all work 
on cotton or wool, the character of the material that they 
work on is not the important thing, as in the case of plumbing 
cited above, but the important thing, from the standpoint of 
blocking, is that the grouping is entirely determined by the 
character of the operations with which they must be made 
familiar and which they must be trained to carry out effectively. 
In such cases operations would determine the block base. 

(c) Construction: In some trades, as in pattern making, 
the block classification has sometimes been based on some 
forms of construction. In pattern making, for example, 
blocks might be based on solid patterns, cored patterns, 
built up patterns, segmental patterns, etc. That is, in this 
case, the block base might be neither material nor opera- 
tions, but the thing in common for a given block (the block 
base) would be the fact that all the jobs included in a 
given instruction block would represent the same type of 
construction. 1 

1 It should be noted here that the selection of construction for pattern 
making is only given as a possible way of doing it, and is only given by way 
of illustration. It is probably not the best way for blocking all that trade. 



THE DETERMINATION OF " BLOCKS " 71 

More than One Block Base Possible for a Given Trade. 
It is of course evident that for a given trade there might be 
more than one set of block bases: one instructor might select 
one set of block bases and another instructor might "block 
out" the same trade on entirely different bases, or the same 
instructor might even block out his trade in more than one 
way. It would be possible to lay out a line of instruction on 
either set of block bases, but, as is pointed out in the following 
paragraph, there is always one way of working out the prob- 
lem of the selection of block bases that will give the best 
instructional results. 

The Value of Blocking Out the Trade with Proper Block 
Bases. Where a modern shop has to turn out a product that 
is produced by putting the stock through a series of operations, 
that is, by doing a series of jobs on the same stock, production 
difficulties are reduced to a minimum by grouping the machines 
that are used so that the stock goes from one machine to the 
next with the least loss of time and expenditure of power. 
If the machines can be grouped in such a way that the suc- 
cessive operations can be carried on as easily and rapidly as 
possible the best production conditions will be met. In the 
same way, if the training department can group its teaching 
job in the best way according to the same sort of learning diffi- 
culties, the instruction can be carried on with the least expendi- 
ture of energy on the part of the instructor and the learner, 
and the learner will progress the most rapidly. 

The Selection of the Best Working Block Base. As just 
stated it is often possible to select more than one block base; in 
choosing between different block bases, where this can be done, 
the instructor must pick out and use the block base that will 
give him the best results in instructional practice. Sometimes 
this can only be determined by trial, but an experienced in- 
structor can generally make a pretty good guess in this matter. 

The following suggestions may be helpful on this point. 
In general, the best block base is the one that enables the 
instructor to so lay out his instructional order that he gets 
into one block the greatest possible number of teaching jobs 
that present the same sort of learning difficulties. Under 



72 THE INSTRUCTOR 

these conditions, the learner, in progressing through the block 
will meet the same sort of learning difficulties all the way 
through, though, of course, these learning difficulties will vary 
widely in degree as he learns job after job in the block. To 
put it another way, the less the learner has to "switch'* kinds 
of learning difficulties during his progress through a given 
block the better, the more he gets in the same block all the 
jobs that present the same kind of learning difficulties, 
these difficulties differing in degree only (not in kind), the 
better. 

The condition as to learning difficulties will be best met when 
the best block base has been selected. When this has been 
done, the result is that all teaching jobs that present the same 
learning difficulties will have been got together in the same 
block and then they can be so arranged by the method de- 
scribed in a following chapter, that the learner can overcome his 
learning difficulties progressively, working steadily from jobs 
where the learning difficulties for that block are the least to 
jobs where the learning difficulties are the most intense. When 
this has been done the job that would be very hard for him if 
given him at first becomes easy if given him last, because, in 
doing the intermediate jobs, he has learned to overcome a 
considerable part of the learning difficulties that go with the 
"hard job." On the other hand if he has had to "switch" 
learning difficulties frequently it is evident that his training 
in learning to deal with any given group of learning difficulties 
will not have been so well carried out. Instead of a steady up 
grade he will have had a series of short "up grades and down 
grades" during his progression through the block. 

Some General Suggestions as to Suitable Block Bases. 
The statements given below may be of service in aiding an 
instructor to determine the block base or bases that will serve 
him the best in laying out an instructional order that will be 
most effective. 

In case a trade is carried on mainly by machine operations 
the instruction will deal mainly with the ways of operating 
these machines because the different machines are differently 
operated or controlled and therefore the different jobs to be 
taught will "tie up" to each other (block out) by machines. 



THE DETERMINATION OF "BLOCKS" 73 

That is, a course of instruction on any one machine will present 
"learning difficulties" different from those encountered in 
working through a course of instruction on any other machine. 
In case a trade is carried on mainly by operations carried out 
by the use of hand tools or simple machines (plumbing, for 
example) wherein materials (stock) of widely different working 
properties are used, the jobs to be taught will usually "bunch" 
for learning difficulties according to material. Where a trade 
consists of special branches (inside and outside rigging, or 
printing) where a knowledge of one branch does not help a 
man in learning how to do jobs in another special branch, the 
trade will usually block out best by these special branches. 

It must be clearly understood that the above statements are 
in the nature of general suggestions only; each instructor must 
carefully consider the blocking possibilities of the trade that 
he is to teach and determine the best block bases for that trade. 
In this work no general rule will take the place of good judg- 
ment and* experience. In some cases it may even be necessary 
to try out several different block bases before the best working 
block bases can be found. 

How to Determine whether a Given Trade Is a Single or a 
Multiblock Trade. In order to determine whether the trade 
which he intends to teach is a single or a multiblock trade the 
instructor must give careful consideration to the character of 
the trade with regard to material, operations, etc., as possible 
block bases. He must first determine whether he has more 
than one block; if he has, he must decide what the best block 
bases will be according to his best judgment, paying regard to 
the suggestions given in this section. If he finds that there 
seem to be more than one group of learning difficulties he 
probably has more than one block in his trade. 

It will be noted that for the carrying out of this operation 
the instructor merely decides whether he has one block or 
more than one block, what the block bases probably are, using 
all the information at his disposal as to special branches, 
operations, material, learning difficulties, etc. He does not, at 
this point, attempt to determine exactly the nature of the 
learning difficulties for each block, that operation being de- 
scribed in the next section. 



74 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Summary. The first step in setting up the material that 
the instructor has analyzed out for his trade is to determine 
whether the particular sort of instruction he is to give calls 
for training in any considerable number of jobs and if these 
jobs involve more than one kind of learning difficulty. If he 
has only a single job, there is no question of job grouping or 
blocking. If there are any number of jobs to be put over he 
has then to determine whether all the teaching jobs can be 
grouped into one block or whether more than one group are 
called for. This he determines by considering the various 
factors discussed in this section. He determines his block 
base if he has one block, and his block bases if he has more 
than one block in his course of instruction. It is important 
that this study of "blocking possibilities" be carefully carried 
out, if blocking is required at all. 

Having completed this work the instructor has analyzed 
what he has to teach, determined the jobs to be taught (if 
more than one), classified his jobs and the auxiliary material 
that goes with them and determined whether he has a single 
or multiblock trade. If he decides that he has more than one 
block, he has determined his block bases. 

He has now got his " stock in trade " classified so that he can 
use it, and is ready to take up the question of how to determine 
the most effective order in which the different jobs in any 
block should be given to the learner. 

These questions are discussed in the next part. 



PART III 

THE ESTABLISHING OF AN EFFECTIVE 
INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER 



CHAPTER IX 

THE DETERMINATION OF THE DIFFICULTIES WHICH 
THE LEARNER MUST MEET IN HIS PROGRESS 
THROUGH THE LINE OF INSTRUCTION FOR ANY 
ONE BLOCK. THE FIRST OPERATION IN GETTING 
OUT AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER 

Preliminary. If the preceding operations have been 
properly carried out the instructor has now: (1) analyzed 
and classified the trade and (2) determined whether it is a 
multiblock, a single block or a "no block" trade. If the first, 
he has determined the block bases for each block, if the 
second, the one block base, if the third, he does not have to 
consider blocking at all. If he has one or more blocks he has 
listed out the various jobs that must be taught in each block 
but has not determined the order in which they can be best 
given to the learner. Up to this point he has dealt entirely 
with the classification of his instructional material: first, as 
between jobs and auxiliary material; second, as, to the proper 
classification of jobs as technical or production; third, the 
classification of the technical jobs as mathematical or draw- 
ing jobs; fourth, the classification of the auxiliary material 
under the proper headings, such as safety first, trade terms, 
etc., and fifth, the jobs that go in each block. 

It has already been pointed out in the preceding chapter 
that where blocking is called for in selecting the best block 
bases study must be made to determine the best base for 
grouping the different teaching jobs, so that the learner 
will, in progressing through any given block deal with the 
same sort of learning difficulties. Having determined the most 
effective arrangement so far as blocks go, whether the trade 
is multiblock or single block, and, if the former, what the 
block bases are, and what jobs should be included in the block, 
or in each block, the instructor is now ready to determine the 

77 



78 THE INSTRUCTOR 

order in which the different teaching jobs that he has deter- 
mined shall go in any given block shall be arranged so that 
the most efficient instructional order may be secured. 

Operations must be Carried out for each Block. The opera- 
tions described in this and the following chapters must be 
carried out as many times as there are blocks in the trade. 
Each block will present its own group of learning difficulties, 
will call for its own difficulty scale, for its own checking levels, 
and will show its own list of type job specifications. Since 
the operations are the same for all blocks, though the results 
are often very different, the following processes are described 
for one block only. 

Securing an Effective Instructional Order for any one Block. 
Whatever the instructor intends to put over to the learner 
must be given to him in some order; it cannot be given to 
him all at once. This brings up the question as to whether 
some arrangements of successive jobs are not more effective 
than others, and whether there is not a best instructional order 
for any given block and, if so, how it can be determined. 

Whatever order may be adopted it is evident that if there 
is more than one job in the trade that the man is to be taught, 
the successive jobs must be given in some order. The learner 
must be informed at some time as to the necessary knowledge 
that he must be able to apply to the different jobs that he is 
to be instructed how to carry out effectively. The instructor 
must therefore prepare some plan, or "operation sheet" 
on which he has laid out the order in which he proposes to 
give the learner the different lessons which it is proposed to 
teach him, and this must be done for each block of the trade, 
if the instructor is dealing with a multiblock trade. Such 
an operation sheet may be called an instructional order and 
the following chapters deal with the methods that should be 
followed in laying out such an order so that it will represent 
an effective and efficient line of instruction. 

What is an Effective Instructional Order of Jobs? An effec- 
tive order of instruction for the jobs that are to be put over 
in one block presents certain characteristics among the more 
important of which are: 



DIFFICULTIES WHICH THE LEARNER MUST MEET 79 

(1) The different teaching jobs in the block are ar- 
ranged in a definite order. 

(2) They are so arranged that, after the first job has 
been put over each succeeding job extends the learner's 
knowledge and skill, but does not call for a different sort 
of knowledge and skill. 

(3) Jobs that require the learner to think of the least num- 
ber of different things at once come first and jobs that require 
the learner to think of the most different things come last. 

(4) The jobs are arranged according to the difficulty 
of learning how to do them rather than according to the 
order in which they would be done in getting out a finished 
product according to a good production order. That is, the 
order is an instructing order, not a production order. (Borne- 
times these two kinds of orders agree usually they do not.) 

An illustration of a course of instruction which does not 
meet these conditions would be the following procedure in 
training reamers which illustrates a method of procedure often 
found when untrained instructors attempt to handle a course 
of training. Where two rivet holes do not come together 
"fair " they must be reamed to a common size. This is usually 
done with a pneumatic or electric drive. The instruction 
course aimed at training these men to correctly ream any kind 
of holes where reaming was required. A group of men after 
having been cautioned as to the control of the machine were 
placed in compartments of the ship to ream out all holes that 
required reaming. These holes were of course, of all sizes, fair 
and unfair (that is, some holes were centered, as punched, or 
as the plates were temporarily held together by bolts, and 
others were more or less off center). Some could be reamed 
in easy positions and some required difficult positions. Under 
these conditions the learner was immediately put up against 
jobs of all sorts of difficulty, since he took the holes as they 
came. He worked in this way until he had learned to ream. 
Under these conditions the learner had to learn too many 
things at once, reducing the probability that he would thor- 
oughly grasp any one thing, causing a state of mental confusion 
and slowing up the learning operation. Taking holes as they 



80 THE INSTRUCTOR 

came, the learner would very likely first get a very unfair hole 
to ream, then a fair hole, then a hole of some other degree of 
fairness. Under a properly arranged order of instruction the 
work would have been so laid out that holes of different degrees 
of fairness would have been marked so that the learner first 
learned to ream the fairest hole, then the next fairest hole, 
and so on up to the most unfair hole that he would ever have 
to work on. Moreover it is very unlikely that one com- 
partment would afford enough samples of holes of all degrees 
of fairness, so that instead of keeping him in one compartment 
till all holes were reamed, he should have been carried from 
one compartment to another as the demands of the training 
required. This would have been equally true of the variations 
in the working positions on the reaming in different parts 
of the compartments, top, sides, bottom. Keeping the gang 
that is under instruction in one compartment till it is all 
reamed up gives good production conditions; such an arrange- 
ment is an example of bad instructional conditions. 

As between the two methods of training given above the 
latter would train a reamer much faster, make a better work- 
man of him, keep him in a much better frame of mind while 
he was under training and turn him out with a much better 
attitude towards his job. 

Progression Factors. It has already been pointed out that 
an efficient instructional order for the teaching jobs in any one 
block will present certain characteristics. Any instructor 
who has any notion of his job at all will attempt to make some 
sort of a lay out that will meet these conditions and these 
attempts fall into one of three classes. The instructor who 
knows the least about his job as an instructor simply guesses 
at the order in which he will lay out the successive teaching 
jobs in the block. He "guesses" that a learner should have 
this sort of a job first and that sort of a job second and the 
other sort of a job third. He has little or no basis for his 
guess except, possibly, some vague notions as to what are 
commonly called "hard" or "easy" jobs in the trade. The 
instructor who has a better notion of his job as an instructor 
will lay out the work in a determined order, but he will base 
his order, not on learning difficulties, that is, not on the difficul- 



DIFFICULTIES WHICH THE LEARNER MUST MEET 81 

ties that the learner will have to get over in mastering the 
successive ideas or operations that he must get, but on the 
difficulties that he, the instructor, who is himself a competent 
workman in that trade, would meet in doing the different 
jobs. This sort of instructor fails to remember what he went 
through when he learned his trade and thinks of things as they 
are now and not as they were with him when he was a learner. 

The trained and efficient instructor will neither guess 
nor will he confuse doing difficulties with learning difficulties. 
He will lay out his order of teaching jobs with regard to the 
difficulties that the learner will meet in learning how to do the 
job. He will, in a sense, put himself in the learner's place, and 
look at the matter through the brain and the hand of the learner 
who is to be made into a competent workman rather than from 
the standpoint of the workman who is already trained. 

In order to do this, the instructor who follows the "sci- 
entific" method of laying out his successive order of jobs must 
determine what elements, or factors enter into learning difficul- 
ties. Having determined them he will then arrange his order 
of jobs so that the learner gradually works, or progresses by 
uniform and gradual stages, from jobs where these factors are 
the least intense to jobs where they are the most intense. That 
is, the instructor must determine the difficulty factors for the 
learner for each block of his trade. Since these are the factors 
that determine the difficulties that the learner must overcome 
in working or progressing through the line of instruction for the 
block, they are called the progression factors for that block. 

Progression factors are therefore merely those things 
that affect the speed, ease and the thoroughness with which a 
learner progresses through an order of instruction. 

The Identification of Progression Factors. The first step 
in getting out an efficient progressive order of instruction for 
any block is to determine the progression factors for that 
particular group of teaching jobs. In general, it may be 
said that the instructor must determine the progression factors 
by making a study of the causes of the difficulties that his 
learners meet in learning how to do the different jobs in the 
block. While no general rule can be given the following 
suggestions may be of service. In a general way it may be 

6 



82 THE INSTRUCTOR 

said that progression factors affect either "head work" or 
"hand work." For example, in some trades, the green man 
is afraid to do certain things; there may be more than one 
thing that he is afraid of on some jobs and only one thing that 
he is afraid of on others. Evidently in this case the course 
of training should be so laid out that he will get first jobs in 
which he is only afraid of one thing and can get over his fear 
of that before he is given jobs in which he would be afraid 
of several things. 

In training an anglesmith's striker it was found that he 
was afraid of letting go of his sledge and hitting somebody, 
he was afraid of the hot iron, he was afraid that he would not 
hit what he aimed at and he was afraid that he would not 
strike "fair." The course of instruction had to be so ar- 
ranged that the green man did not have to overcome all of 
these fears at once. In this case fear was therefore a pro- 
gression factor to be taken into consideration. In other 
trades there are some jobs in which a man has to look out for 
only one thing at a time and other jobs where he has to look 
out for a number of things at the same time, and there are 
jobs intermediate between these two in this respect. When a 
crane operator simply lifts a frame he does not have to look 
out for as many things at once as when he lifts the frame and 
carries it. In laying out a line of instruction for a crane 
operator the instructor would arrange the different jobs in 
such an order that the man would be taught to lift before he 
was taught to carry. In this case the progression factor might 
be called complexity and we would say that the progression 
should be from the least complex to the most complex jobs. 

Two Kinds of Progression Factors. A man who is used 
to working under production conditions is almost certain to 
get out production difficulties instead of learning difficulties. 
When he thinks of the relative difficulties of jobs he is almost 
sure to think of the difficulties that he, as a competent man, 
would meet in doing them rather than of the difficulties that 
a learner would meet in learning how to do them. His progres- 
sion factor table will, unless he is very careful, be a production 
progression factor table and not an instruction progression 
factor table. 



DIFFICULTIES WHICH THE LEARNER MUST MEET 



83 



What is a Progression Factor Table? A convenient device 
for enabling an instructor to work out his instructional order 
with regard to progression factors is what is often called a 
progression factor table. In constructing such a progression 
factor table the instructor, after having determined the 
progression factors for the block, charts out the progression 
on paper as follows : 

Suppose that there are four progression factors A, B, C 
and D, and these are accuracy, speed, fear and number of 
operations. In such a case a progression factor table would 
look like the sample below. 

PROGRESSION FACTORS 



TO 


Accuracy 
High 


Speed high 


No fear 


Many 
Operations 





i 




FROM 


i 

Accuracy 
very low 


Speed 
very low 


Fear high 


Number of 
Operations 
low 





84 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The vertical lines indicate simply that the learner must 
progress from jobs where each of the progression factors are at 
a minimum or maximum, as the case may be, through jobs 
where the factors are of intermediate but increasing or decreas- 
ing value. Such a progression factor table should be prepared 
for each block of the trade for which the instructional order is 
to be laid out. 

Progression Factors May Go Up or Down. Progression 
factors may increase or decrease as the learner progresses. 
Thus, in the sample table given above, accuracy, speed and 
number of operations went up, but fear went down. So far 
as fear went the learner had more "scare" in him when he 
started than at any other time, and the problem, so far as 
that progression factor goes, is to gradually reduce that scare 
to zero, and to give the learner a chance to overcome his 
"scares" one at a time. That is, fear is a diminishing factor. 
The other factors used for illustration start at as near zero 
as possible. The absolutely green learner has practically no 
skill, his speed is at the minimum. Numerous operations will 
confuse him the most at the start, and will bother him less 
as he gains in experience and skill, hence his first job should 
call for as few operations as possible. His accuracy is at 
zero, or nearly so, hence his first job should be the one calling 
for the roughest work of all the jobs in the block. 



CHAPTER X 

ESTABLISHING A DIFFICULTY SCALE FOR ONE 
BLOCK. THE SECOND OPERATION IN GETTING 
OUT AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER 

Preliminary. Up to this point the instructor has established 
his progression factors and laid out a true instructional 
progression factor table by the method described in the pre- 
ceding chapter. If his trade is a single block trade, one pro- 
gression factor table will cover the entire trade; if a multiblock 
trade, he has laid out as many progression factor tables as 
there are blocks in the trade. If he is instructing on single 
jobs of course no question of job progression comes in and 
he does not have to bother with progression factors at all. 
The next step is to establish what may be called a difficulty 
scale for the block under consideration. 

The progression factor table as it now stands, merely 
gives a starting point and a finish, or an outline of minimum 
and maximum degrees of learning difficulties. The instructor 
is in the position of a train dispatcher who knows that a 
train leaves New York and arrives at Boston at given times, 
but has no knowledge of the position of that train on the 
route at any intervening time. In order to know approxi- 
mately how near the train is to Boston at different stages 
in its progress, the train is reported at definite points between 
starting point and the finish. In the same way the instructor 
in order to know how far advanced the learner is, has got to 
establish a series of checking points between the learner's 
start and his finish. 

The Difficulty Scale. If a number of horizontal lines are 
drawn across a progression factor table, each line will represent 
a stage of the learner's progression through the block, just as 
the reporting of trains from intermediate stations shows its 
position between its starting point and destination. We 
call such lines checking levels. 

85 



8(5 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The Number of Checking Levels Required. The determina- 
tion of the number of checking levels required is a matter 
of judgment. Evidently if a block contained a great many 
jobs, the instructor would want to check up the progress of 
the learner at more points than he would if the number of 
jobs were small. The number of checking points would 
vary also with the character of the trade and the kind of a 
learner, i. e. y in trades calling for a high degree of skill, or if 
the list of jobs for the block included a good many technical 
jobs, more checking points would be required than for trades 
with reversed conditions. Probably more checking points 
would be required for checking boys than for men. 

The object to be accomplished is to enable the instructor 
to keep a close enough check on the progress of the learner 
to know approximately where he is between the beginning 
and end of the block, but at the same time not try to make 
the thing too fine. 

Probably a rough rule would be to establish a checking 
level for every four to six jobs in the block. 

The diagram for a progression factor table when made into a 
difficulty scale with four intermediate checking levels would 
look like the figure below : 



TO 



MOST 



kill 



FROM 



D 



LEAST 



ESTABLISHING A DIFFICULTY SCALE 87 

This gives the situation of the learner at six levels, start, 
four intermediate stations and finish. 

Conclusion. The instructor now has two things, (1) the 
list of jobs for the block and (2) a difficulty scale for the block. 
The next step is to use the difficulty scale and the list of jobs 
for the block so that the jobs can be arranged in an effective 
order for instruction. The method for doing this is given in 
the next chapter. 



CHAPTER XI 

APPLYING THE DIFFICULTY SCALE TO ONE BLOCK. 
THE THIRD OPERATION IN GETTING OUT AN 
EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER. 

Preliminary. The instructor has now two things to work 
with : he has a list of the various teaching jobs that he intends 
to put over in the block that is under consideration and he 
has the difficulty scale he has worked out for the same block. 
The next step is to apply the difficulty scale to the list of teach- 
ing jobs so that the result will be a lay-out for progression, 
or a course of instruction, that will conform to the standard 
already set forth in the previous chapters. 

When the instructor has done this he has his teaching jobs 
for the block laid out in an effective instructional order, al- 
though, as already pointed out, he will probably find on trial 
that some modifications will be required as he gains in experi- 
ence in working through the course with a group of learners. 

Checking Level Specifications. The first step in using the 
difficulty scale is to take off what may be called checking 
level specifications. In order to do this the instructor pro- 
ceeds as in the illustration given below. 

Assume for illustration that an instructor in house car- 
pentry is laying out a course of instruction for his trade. He 
has decided to put into one block all the teaching jobs that 
he proposes to put over in connection with his instruction 
on the covering in of a house. He has taken closing in as his 
block base. He has listed out on cards the following teaching 
jobs to be included in this instructional block. 

CLOSING IN BLOCK 

Boarding in Fancy shingling Straight gutters 

Paper work Valley shingling Mitered gutters 

Clapboarding Ridge pieces Flashings 

Straight roof shingling. 

88 



APPLYING THE DIFFICULTY SCALE 89 

He has determined that this block contains four progression 
factors: workmanship, accuracy, number of operations and 
has also decided that the working conditions vary to such a 
degree for a learner on jobs on different parts of the house 
that, as between working on the ground and working at an 
elevation, consideration must be given to the fact that fear 
will affect the learning conditions. 

He has also determined that three checking levels between 
the beginning and end of this block of instruction will enable 
him to keep track of the learner's progress with a sufficient 
degree of approximation for the instructional requirements 
for this block in this trade. 

He therefore has a five degree difficulty scale and a four 
factor progression factor table. He now places his difficulty 
scale side of his progression factor as shown in the diagram. 

He now prolongs the "degree" lines on his difficulty scale 
across the progression factor table as indicated by the dotted 
lines in the figure. Wherever a scale line crosses a progression 
line we have what may be called a checking point, as indicated 
by the circles lines in the figure. 

Checking Level Specifications. By reading horizontally 
along the five scale lines the instructor can now determine 
the general characteristics of the sort of teaching jobs that 
would approximately fit into the specifications for any degree 
on his difficulty scale. Thus, in the diagram as given for 
illustration he might have: 

No. 1 Level. (Green learner.) The roughest laying on 
job that can be found on this sort of work, with the fewest 
possible operations and working on the ground. 

No. 2 Level. (Learner partly trained.) A moderately 
rough job, requiring some degree of accuracy, calling for 
a few operations that can be worked on off the ground but 
not too high up. 

No. 3 Level. (Learner about half trained.) A somewhat 
close job off the ground, calling for several operations. In 
general, further along than No. 2, but not so far along as No. 4. 

No. 4 Level. (Learner considerably trained.) A fairly 
close job, requiring some fitting, well off the ground, requiring 
a considerable number of operations. 



90 



THE INSTRUCTOR 
HOUSE CARPENTRY 
CLOSING IN BLOCK 





^necKing 
Level 
Scale 




THE BLOCK 




Maximum 




Close 


Fitting 


Roof 


Many 


5 
4 
3 

2 
1 






k 


ki 


k 


k 






t 

( 


^ 


"** 
c 


^ 


h 
( 


H 
> 


1 
( 


tf 
) 




( 


) 


( 


) 


( 


> 


( 


) 






( 


*) 


c 


) 


C 


) 
) 


C 


") 




( 


) 


c 


) 


c 


c 


) 


Minimum 




Rough 


Laying on 


Ground 


Few 



APPLYING Tfifi DIFFICULTY SCALE 91 

No. 5 Level. (Learner completely trained.) The closest 
job requiring the best fitting, with the most operations of any 
job that there is on this class of work (closing in), and carried 
on as high up as is possible. 

The instructor now has what may be called checking level 
specification. That is, he has determined the general char- 
acteristics of the sort of a teaching lesson that should be given 
to the learner when he starts, when he is completely trained, 
and when he has reached three intermediate stages in his 
progression through the instruction block. It will be noted 
that these checking level specifications do not refer to any 
definite job, but only indicate the characteristics of the sort 
of a teaching job that should be undertaken with the learner 
at the stages of his progress indicated by the lines on the check- 
ing level diagram. 

Conclusion and Summary. By carrying through the opera- 
tions just described, the instructor has now applied his diffi- 
culty scale to his progression factor table and has drawn off 
the characteristics or specifications of the sort of a teaching 
job that should be undertaken with the learner at the checking 
levels on the difficulty scale. It still remains to determine 
what actual jobs out of those listed out for the block will best 
fit into the instructional order as prescribed by the progression 
factor table and the checking level specifications as obtained. 
This further method of procedure is discussed in the next 
chapter. 



CHAPTER XII 

GETTING THE ACTUAL TEACHING JOBS INTO AN 
EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER FROM 
THE CHECKING LEVEL SPECIFICATIONS. THE 
FOURTH OPERATION IN GETTING OUT AN EFFEC- 
TIVE ORDER OF INSTRUCTION FOR ONE BLOCK 

Preliminary. The instructor in the illustration used in the 
last chapter has now got his checking level specifications 
and has the list of jobs that he intends to teach in that 
block. The next step is to determine in what order these 
jobs can be arranged to secure best practical instructional 
order. 

Fitting the Jobs to the Progression Scale. In the case of 
the instructor in house carpentry already used for illustration 
in the preceding section, the further procedure would be as 
follows : He has on cards the ten kinds of jobs that he proposes 
to teach in the block. 

He knows all about these jobs. He selects the job that 
he thinks will approximate most closely to the number one 
level on his table. He then picks out the job that he thinks 
will fit best into the specifications for the number five level, 
and in the same way he selects three jobs that fit the best 
into the specifications for levels two, three and four. He has 
now located five jobs out of the ten on his scale. This leaves 
five jobs to be distributed between. He does this according 
to his judgment. To illustrate: 

He selects paper work for the first level (minimum) job 
because it calls for the roughest workmanship of any job on 
his list; because it calls for practically no fitting, hence no 
accuracy, it calls for the fewest operations, since it only requires 
nailing on the paper and cutting it off, and the learner can be 
given jobs of this character on or near the ground. He selects 

92 



EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER 93 

a job in paper work where the learner can stand on the ground, 
because he must consider the fear factor. Thus he secures 
a job that approximates fairly well to the specifications of the 
minimum level job. 

The number two level specifications call for a moderately 
rough job calling for some degree of accuracy with two or 
three operations that can be worked off the ground but 
not too high up. Clapboarding meets these specifications 
pretty well and by picking out work where the learner can 
be put on a staging eight or ten feet from the ground, it 
gives a pretty fair approximation to the number two speci- 
fications. 

Specifications for number three level call for a fairly close 
job, well off the ground, requiring a considerable number of 
operations. Straight clapboarding near the roof meets these 
conditions fairly well. On the matter of fear of falling it is 
fairly good, it does not call for quite enough operations to 
quite meet the specifications, but it seems about the best 
choice on the whole. So he takes it. 

Specifications for number four level call for a somewhat 
close job off the ground calling for several operations. He 
selects for this putting on mitered gutters, since this work 
must be done up to the eaves of the house (about as far up 
as the learner can work and have a staging under him) and 
because, from the standpoint of skill mitering is a pretty 
close job. There are not quite enough operations, but, on 
the whole, this job fits the specifications about as well as 
any. 

Specifications for number five level call for the closest 
job of the list, requiring the best fitting, with the greatest 
number of operations of any job in the block, carried on under 
the worst conditions so far as fear of falling is concerned. 
Several of the jobs on the list meet these specifications to a 
greater or less degree; putting on ridge pieces is as high up 
as any, but is rather too simple; putting on flashing around a 
chimney is better, but on the whole, fancy shingling on the 
roof would seem to meet the specifications the best, though 
not the ideal type job for this level. He therefore selects it 
as his most advanced job. He now has: 



94 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Level No. Job. 

5 Fancy shingling. 
4 Mitered gutters. 

3 Clap boarding on the roof, medium high. 
2 Clapboarding on a low stage. 
1 Paper work on the ground. 

The instructor now considers the other jobs on his list. 
Evidently mitered gutters, chimney flashings, fitting ridge 
pieces should come in between levels 3 and 4. Boarding on a 
stage will come after paper work, etc., so that finally the order 
of jobs might be, with some reason, arranged as follows: 

Level No. Order No. Job. 

5 11 Fancy shingling. 

4 10 Mitered gutters. 

9 Chimney flashings. 

8 Fitting ridge pieces. 

3 7 Clapboarding near the roof. 

6 Putting on straight gutters. 

5 Clapboarding on high stage. 

2 4 Boarding on high stage. 

3 Paper work on stage. 

2 Boarding on stage. 

1 1 Boarding on the ground. 

The jobs for this block have now been arranged in an efficient 
order of instruction with regard to the difficulty scale as laid out. 
The instructor now has his order of instruction for the block. 

Type Jobs and Real Jobs. In the illustration just given 
it will be noted that in no case did the job selected exactly 
meet the specifications for the checking level which it was 
chosen to represent. For convenience we can imagine a job 
that will exactly meet the specifications of any given checking 
level, even if no real job does exactly meet them. An imagi- 
nary job that exactly corresponds to a set of checking level 
specifications may be called a type job. In selecting real jobs 
on which to base his different teaching lessons, the instructor, 
having in mind type jobs chooses real jobs that approximate 
to the type job that he has in mind when he makes his selec- 



EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER 95 

tion. In this work of approximating he will do good work in 
proportion as he has the type job specifications clearly in 
his mind and uses good judgment in "matching up" his real 
jobs against the type jobs. Of course it might be true that 
a real job might correspond exactly with a type job, but cases 
of this sort are so rare in practice that they are negligible. 

On the other hand it is not uncommon to find that several 
jobs all correspond equally well to the specifications of a given 
type job. So far as meeting the requirements of the teaching 
job as given on the progression table, one would be as good as 
another. In such a case it will usually be found that minor varia- 
tions and the learning difficulties will suggest a most effective 
arrangement, or, if this is not the case, the jobs in the " bunch " 
may be assigned in any order as convenience may determine. 

Laying Out an Effective Instructional Order in Practice. 
An excellent practical method for arranging jobs according 
to a difficulty scale is to use such cards as are made for card 
catalog work. Where cards are used the arrangement is 
flexible, the order of jobs can be easily changed and addi- 
tional jobs can be readily inserted in the proper place. 

The most useful cards for this work are the ordinary size 
(about 3J4" x 4}^"). Guide cards may be used for the 
type job specifications. Such a guide card might be arranged 
as shown below. 



No.. 



Block base. 



Checking level specifications 



96 THE INSTRUCTOR 

For listing out jobs a card as shown below is about the sim- 
plest form. 



Block... Card No.. 

Job 



Where multiblocks are used each block can be indicated 
by a center guide card of a different color. The guide cards 
can be arranged in the order of the checking levels that 
they show, going up front to back. Cards carrying the jobs 
corresponding to each set of checking level specifications can 
be bunched behind the corresponding guide card. If they 
vary much with regard to the specifications they can be 
arranged in an order working from the specifications on the 
front guide to the next guide back. Convenient holding 
cases can be easily procured if cards of standard size are used. 

A job card catalog constructed as described is the best 
form in which to keep an order of job instruction. 

If desired further modifications can be developed. Cards 
can be made to carry additional information, cards of different 
colors can be used to indicate different classes of jobs, etc. 
Such an arrangement can be used to record almost any sort 
of information that may be desired. 



CHAPTER XIII 

TYING UP THE AUXILIARY INFORMATION WITH THE 
JOB INSTRUCTION 

Preliminary. The method of securing an effective instruc- 
tional order that has been presented in this pamphlet has dealt 
entirely with jobs: production jobs or technical jobs or both. 
It has been assumed that in listing out the instructional orders 
the instructor has only dealt with teaching jobs that were to 
be carried out on actual jobs: that is, on production work. 

In analyzing out the trade, however, it was found that 
there was more or less auxiliary material, largely in the nature 
of information, that must, in some way, be given to the learner 
during the progress of his training, and the question of how this 
auxiliary material is to be handled still remains to be dis- 
cussed. This question, as a part of the whole problem of 
securing an efficient order of instruction, is discussed in this 
chapter. 

The Applying of Auxiliary Knowledge. Whenever a man 
does a job it is almost always true that, in connection with the 
doing of that job some auxiliary knowledge will be used or 
applied. In getting out an operation sheet use must be made 
of location terms, operation terms, etc. In a technical job, 
such as reading the blueprint in the shop, some trade terms 
will come into play and will have to be correctly interpreted 
by the workman. In using an acetylene torch, or in operating 
a machine tool the operator must apply certain "safety first" 
information if he means to do a safe job. In nearly all jobs 
directions, to be intelligently understood, must use trade 
terms, and the workman must understand them. 

In a previous chapter the method of listing out and classify- 
ing this auxiliary knowledge was given, and it is assumed 
in this section that the instructor has properly listed out and 
classified all the items that he considers should be included in 
7 97 



98 THE INSTRUCTOR 

what he intends to give to the learner as a part of the training 
course that he has planned. 

It has already been pointed out that the passing out of 
information does not require the use of the instructing pro- 
cess: because straight information is not taught, in the sense 
in which the term is used in these notes. For example we 
cannot teach trade terms; we can explain them, but explaining 
what the words "diamond point tool," "apron," "bevel 
gear," "eleven point" and so on signify does not mean that 
we have taught them. In such cases there is nothing to teach, 
because there is no particular reason why these particular 
terms should carry the meaning that they do. In the same way 
and for no more reason we call the right hand side of a ship, 
facing forward, the starboard side, and, under the same 
conditions, the left hand side the port side. Such terms as 
mortise joint, bed, justifying, taking out wind, milling, and so 
forth carry the meanings that they do simply because they 
are trade terms for certain things or certain operations, and 
that is all there is to the matter. The instructor can tell what 
they signify but he does not teach them : that is, he does not 
put them over by the use of a true instructional process. 

As already pointed out an instructor not only has to teach 
but as a part of his job he must point out certain facts and 
explain certain terms; he must give certain information. It 
therefore becomes a part of the problem of an instructor who 
is planning out a line of instruction to determine how he pro- 
poses to "run in" this sort of material, or auxiliary knowledge 
in the most effective way. If it is not included in his instruc- 
tional course, the training will be, of course, imperfect. The 
methods whereby this part of the problem of the instructor 
can be dealt with are discussed in the following paragraphs. 

The Putting over of Auxiliary Knowledge: The Two 
Methods. In general there are two methods of putting over 
the auxiliary knowledge that must be applied to the different 
jobs in any given block. According to the first method this 
information is organized into "courses of instruction," and 
is "taught" that is, passed out, by what is thought to be a 
series of teaching lessons. This material is divided into 
different subjects and these subjects are "taught" to the 



AUXILIARY INFORMATION AND JOB INSTRUCTION 99 

learners at definite times. This is often done by bringing the 
learners into a room and giving them this information by 
lectures or "shop talks," before they are instructed in jobs. 
This method, which we will call the method of instructing by 
subjects, is the usual method that is followed in the regular 
schools, and is the one that is generally attempted by trade 
instructors who attempt to follow regular school methods. 
By the second method this auxiliary material, while it is 
carefully listed in the instructor's trade analysis, is not brought 
into "courses of instruction" by subjects, but is "tied up" 
with the job, by giving it to the learner in small parts, and 
giving him each part only when it is needed in connection 
with the job on which he is being instructed. According to 
this second method the instructor determines what part of 
the different items of auxiliary knowledge that he has listed 
out will be called for for the first time when the learner has 
reached any given job in the list of jobs for that block, and 
plans to give it to the learner at that point. No attempt is 
made to pass out these different items apart from the jobs 
with which they are naturally connected. By this method 
no lectures or talks are used to give the auxiliary material. 

The Two Methods Illustrated. As an illustration of the 
way in which the two methods would be worked out in practice 
take the case of the care of tools when in use. According to 
the first method the precautions that should be taken in 
looking out for the different tools would be given to groups 
of men at certain times: a common way would be to bring 
the men together for an hour or two a week for this informa- 
tion or to attempt to give it in evening classes, which men 
may attend if they choose. If, for example, a man should 
know that a certain tool must be kept well oiled, and how 
to oil it, by the first method he would be given this in- 
formation at some time during a "course" on the care of tools. 
If certain precautions should be taken in connection with 
the use of the tool this information would be given in a " course " 
on safety first, if certain trade terms were required to be under- 
stood, the learner would get these in a "course" on trade 
terms. Such "courses" would, of course, include similar 
items for other jobs in the trade. By the other method the 



100 THE INSTRUCTOR 

particular terms that would come into play in connection 
with the use of that particular tool, the special precautions 
that should be taken in using that tool, the special things that 
a man should know in taking care of that tool would be deter- 
mined and listed out in connection with the first job in the 
instructional course in which that tool came into use. That is, 
this information would be given to the learner at the time 
that he needed it on the job, and not before, and at that 
time he would only be given the particular items that applied 
to that particular job. 

The two methods may be illustrated by the diagram given 
below : 



k k 



Jobs Safety Trade Knowledge Care of Tools 

First Terms of Stock and Equip- 

ment 

WORKING BY SUBJECTS. 
Safety First 



Stock Jt^* 3 ^ Trade Terms 



Care of Tools, etc. 

Safety First 



Stock IS^ ^ Trade Terms 



Care of Tools, etc. 
WORKING BY TYING UP. 



AUXILIARY INFORMATION AND J6B INSTRUCTION 101 ' 

O's represent successive jobs; index lines parts of the 
different kinds of auxiliary material that should be "fixed up" 
with each job. 

For a more definite example, take the case of the safety 
first information and the trade terms that would come into 
the job of operating an air "gun 5 * in riveting. If such a 
"gun" is started when the die is not pressed against something 
solid, this die will be "shot" with sufficient force to do con- 
siderable damage if it strikes any one. Assume, for con- 
venience, that the terms are trigger, gun, plunger, and die. 
That the safety first information consists in impressing the 
learner with the fact that if he starts the gun "free" the tool 
will "shoot." Assume that this particular operating danger 
and these particular terms are included in the list of trade 
terms that the instructor has compiled of all the safety first 
information and all the trade terms that apply to the trade 
that is to be taught, in this case, riveting. 

By the first method the information about "shooting the 
tool" might be given as a part cf a lecture on safety first 
at some time before the man had had a gun in his hand, 
and it would be given along with a lot of other information 
which would apply to safety in the use of other tools or on 
other jobs. . So the special terms that would apply to the 
particular lesson, "trigger," "die," etc., would be given in a 
talk on trade terms given at a time when the learner was 
not on the job, and given along with a lot of other trade 
terms, such as "flush rivet," "snap rivet," "countersunk 
rivet," etc., that would apply to other jobs in the line of 
instruction. That is, there would be a "course" in trade 
terms; a "course" in safety first, applying in each case to the 
requirements of the riveting trade, each course including all 
the auxiliary information for that trade under that particular 
classification. 

By the second method the instructor, in laying out his 
course of instruction, would have looked at his list of trade 
terms and decided that the terms "trigger" and "die" would 
come in for the first time in connection with a lesson on the 
operation of the gun, and would plan for that teaching unit a 
memorandum that the learner was to be introduced to these 



102 THE INSTRUCTOR 

particular terms in connection with that lesson. In the same 
way he would have determined that that lesson was the place 
to bring up the safety first information connected with the 
use of the gun, and would have noted that on his lesson plan. 
Thus the learner would get the special precautions and trade 
terms that go with the operation of the gun, at the time that he 
was first taught how to operate a gun and not at some time before 
or after he had been taught how to operate a gun. Naturally this 
would be a part of his first lesson in riveting. 

Untrained Instructors Tend to Use the First Method. 
The majority of untrained instructors tend to use the first 
method; they do this for several reasons among the more 
important of which are: first, they have the notion that, if 
the learner can be "instructed," (as they call it) in advance, 
that is, if he has been told the trade terms, precautions, etc., 
before he is given the lesson on the job, he will know and be 
able to apply these terms and precautions when he is on the 
job. The theory is that, having been once given them, he will 
carry them in his head, pick out what he needs to apply on any 
given job when he needs it, and do it completely and correctly. 
Second, this method of instruction by subjects is very much 
the easier method to follow and so appeals to the overworked 
or lazy instructor. Third, it is the sort of organization of 
teaching material that the instructor sees in the work of the 
regular schools, the way that his children are getting their 
schooling, probably the way that he got his own schooling, 
and he naturally tends to copy that. Fourth, somebody, not a 
scientific instructor himself, tells him to do it that way and 
he follows their advice. 

The Right Method. The method of tying up the auxiliary 
material with the job has always been recognized by teachers 
as one that is far more effective than the method of handling 
this material by the "subject" method. It is the method 
that has always been followed by the really effective teachers 
in the regular schools. It does not find much place in the 
work of these schools chiefly because the work is practically 
"book work," as it is often called, and not "practical work," 
or work on production. Teaching conditions in these schools 



AUXILIARY INFORMATION AND JOB INSTRUCTION 103 

also make the successful use of the tying up method very 
difficult, but in good schools it will be found in use in such 
subjects as science and manual training, where real things 
are studied and handled. 

The Advantage of Tying Up the Auxiliary Material with the 
Job. In the first place the learner gets the information at the 
time that he sees some "sense" in it; when he sees that it 
really comes into the job. If it is given him in advance of 
the job he has nothing to "tie" it to; it makes but little im- 
pression. If it is given him after the job he has not been 
given it when he has a chance to apply it. In either case 
what "tying" he can do will be either to such a general idea 
of the situation as he may get from such general knowledge 
of the job as he may have picked up somehow, or from such a 
picture of the job as he may get from whatever the instructor 
puts up, in either case a pretty weak thing to tie to. In the 
second place, and what is more important, it is of no value to 
give information on, say, safety precautions, unless the man 
will take those precautions when he is working on the job. 
If he knows and does not apply, what good has been done? 
In order that he shall think of the thing in question when he 
should, he must have gotten it in connection with some 
operation, so that, whenever he performs that operation the 
thing, say "shooting the tool" will come up in his mind in 
connection with that part of the job. It is the failure to recog- 
nize this fact that makes so much "preliminary work in the 
"fundamentals" of so little value; general talks on safety 
first are given and then, when the men on the job do exactly 
what the instructor warned them not to do, he wonders what 
is the matter and calls them stupid. He puts up lessons 
on fractions, and then finds that his men do not know how 
to use fractions on the job; he teaches trade terms in ad- 
vance of their use and, when they come up on the job, the 
man does not know the terms. In all these cases the trouble 
is that the instructor, who has plenty of trade experience 
to tie to, forgets that the learner has little or none; it is 
another case of the instructor thinking of the problem with 
his own brain and not putting himself in the place of the 
learner. 



104 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The Practical Tying Up of the Auxiliary Material with the 
Instructional Order of Jobs. An instructor who has arranged 
his technical and production jobs in an effective instructional 
order and who now wishes to "work in " the auxiliary material 
that goes with the trade, proceeds as follows: He takes the 
number one job on his list and determines what items on his 
list of safety first material should be given in connection with 
that lesson; the same for trade terms, for knowledge of stock, 
etc. He lists these items on the card that carries that job. 
He does the same with the next job and so on until he has 
distributed all his auxiliary material among the different jobs 
to the best advantage, bearing in mind that the job for bring- 
ing up any given item for the first time is the one on which 
the learner will feel the need to use or apply that particular 
item for the first time. 

The Question of General Information. In what has been 
said in this section reference has been made only to the course 
of instruction for some one trade that the instructor has 
planned to teach. Entirely outside of this there is undoubtedly 
a large amount of information of a general character that the 
new man needs to have given him in some way, but which 
is no part of his special trade training. Whether he is to be 
trained in spinning, weaving, machine shop work, or any other 
occupation in the plant, he needs, for example, information as 
to where and when and how he gets his pay, where the dis- 
pensary is, how to get around the shop, etc. Information 
of this sort should not be included in the trade training course 
as planned by the instructor for that trade. It is, in fact, 
doubtful if it is not the business of the welfare department 
or the employment office to give information of this sort. If 
the instructor plans to give it it should be worked out as an 
independent program from that for his " regular job " the occu- 
pation for which he is expected to give training. It might 
be that if this work were a part of the work of the training 
department, it could be given to one special instructor to 
work up and attend to before the man was sent to the trade 
instructor for his trade training proper. 

The importance of doing this tying up work well cannot 
be too strongly emphasized, and it will pay the instructor 



AUXILIARY INFORMATION AND JOB INSTRUCTION 105 

to give much time and attention to working out this part 
of his instructional layout. The two important things to 
accomplish are: first, to run in all the trade terms, precau- 
tions and other auxiliary material somewhere in the instruc- 
tional list of teaching jobs, and second, to be sure that the 
distribution is such that each part comes to the man when he 
needs to use it for the first time on the job, not before and not 
after. In proportion as this is well worked out the "tying up 
process" will be efficient and instructional time will be saved. 
Under few, if any conditions should the instructor undertake 
to plan to give any auxiliary material to his men "off the job." 
Summary and Conclusion. In addition to the jobs 
(technical and production), that constitute the instructional 
order, or course of instruction for the trade, the instructor, in 
his analysis has listed out the auxiliary material and classified 
it under the proper heads. This auxiliary material can be 
given either by distinct subject courses or by the tying up 
method. This second method should be followed in emergency 
training departments because it is much more efficient of the 
two. Instructors tend to follow the first (subject) method 
because it is easier and is the method that they commonly 
see in the regular schools. The instructor should distribute 
the different items between the different jobs in such an order 
that any given item comes to the learner the first time that 
he meets the need for it on the job. 



CHAPTER XIV 

GETTING THE JOBS IN MORE THAN ONE BLOCK INTO 
AN EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER 

Preliminary. The method of procedure given in the pre- 
ceding sections has dealt entirely with the case where the 
trade was a single block trade. As stated, the listing of the 
teaching jobs, the determination of the teaching difficulties, 
the establishment of a difficulty scale, the putting the scale 
against the progression factor table and the getting of the 
teaching jobs and the real jobs into an effective instructional 
order must be carried through for each block. When this 
has been done once for a single block trade the order of in- 
struction is completed, and the instructor is ready to take up 
active instructional work so far as the arrangement and 
determination of what he is going to teach is concerned. 

Special Problems of the Multiblock Trade. Where the 
trade has been determined to be a multiblock trade further 
complications are introduced into the problem of getting out an 
effective instructional order because not only the different 
teaching jobs in the blocks must be presented to the learner 
in some determined order, but the blocks themselves must also 
be arranged so that the teaching jobs in all the blocks can be 
combined into an effective order of instruction. In the 
case of a multiblock trade we have therefore one more step 
to take before the line of instruction is completely worked out. 

Let it be assumed that an instructor has determined that 
che trade that he intends to teach is a multiblock trade and 
that he has worked out his effective order of instruction for 
each of the blocks. His first problem is to determine tne 
order in which these different blocks should be placed in the 
course cf instruction. That is, the block order must be deter- 
mined. 

100 



ORDER FOR JOBS IN MORE THAN ONE BLOCK 107 

Independent and Related Blocks. In general, it will be 
found that the different blocks are independent or related. 
By an independent block is meant one in which the teaching 
lessons contained therein have no relation to those in any 
other block. This practically means that it would be possible 
to carry a learner through any one block without having to 
refer in any way to anything that was contained in any other 
block. An illustration may make this clearer. 

As already stated, machine shop instruction breaks up 
into some fourteen blocks, and the general block base is the 
machine. It is generally held by instructors in that trade 
that it is perfectly possible to thoroughly instruct a learner 
in the work that is done on any one machine without being 
obliged to use in any way anything that he might know about 
any other machine. This fact is taken advantage of in cases 
where "special machine operators" are trained: lathe hands, 
planer hands, shaper hands, etc., are trained so that they are 
thoroughly instructed in the work on their special machine 
and may know absolutely nothing about the operation of any 
other machine. 

Where these conditions exist, in instructing a learner on 
any one machine, the instructor need not in any way assume 
that the man under instruction has had any experience on 
any other machine which the instructor must draw upon in 
connection with the instruction. The complete instructional 
order for jobs on any one machine can be built up without 
using in any way knowledge of any other machine. Such a 
case would probably be equally true in the case of plumb- 
ing, for jobs on rigid pipe, lead pipe, soil pipe and so on, and 
might be true for work in a wood mill in training on the 
different wood working machines. It might be true in the 
case of training men in sheet metal work, where the three blocks 
of reading blueprints, making constructions for pattern lay 
outs and working the sheet metal, might be found to be in- 
dependent blocks. This would be the case if it were true 
that one man could be trained only to read blueprints, an- 
other trained only to make constructions and a third trained 
only in working the metal, and each man could do his job 
without knowing anything about the other man's job. The 



106 THE INSTRUCTOR 

test as to whether these blocks (assuming that the instructor 
had determined that these three blocks did exist in the trade) 
were related or independent would come in determining 
whether the instructor, in laying out the work for blueprint 
reading found it necessary to assume that the learner knew 
anything about either construction work or about working the 
metal and whether in instructing the learner in working the 
metal, any reference must be made to the blueprint reading 
or the construction work. 

Suppose, on the other hand, it were found that, in a certain 
trade, while the trade broke up in such a way that different 
block bases were desirable, that is, it was a multiblock trade, 
what a learner acquired in one block would help him in pro- 
gressing through another block. Many instructors in pattern 
making have held that this is true of their trade. Referring 
to the possible block bases as given already discussed, they 
have held that, while a segmental pattern offered enough 
distinctive characteristics to warrant setting up a block 
on segmental patterns, at the same time this block could best 
be given to a learner who had already been carried through a 
block on built up patterns, and that the learner could best be 
carried through the block on built up patterns after he had 
been instructed in a block on solid patterns. These instructors 
hold that learning difficulties would be less in the case of the 
block on segmental patterns if the learner already knew how 
to make built up patterns, because a built up pattern differs 
from a solid pattern only in the fact that for special reasons, 
it is made in a number of pieces instead of in one piece. On 
the other hand, these instructors have claimed that work on 
segmental patterns offered enough special learning difficulties 
to warrant putting jobs of that kind in a special block. 

Possible Arrangement of Blocks. If a trade is a one block 
trade there is, of course, no question as to arrangement of 
blocks, but, if it is a multiblock trade there are a number of 
possible arrangements. Consider the simplest case first, 
that of a two block trade. Just as two bricks can be placed 
in two positions as to each other, one on top of the other 
or side by side, so the two blocks of a multiblock trade can be 
placed in series or in parallel, as shown in the diagram below. 



ORDER FOR JOBS IN MORE THAN ONE BLOCK 
Calling the two blocks A and B we could have : 



109 



B 



B 



Combination 1 



A 



Combination 



This means that by combination 1 the learner would be 
instructed in both blocks at the same time, by combination 2 
he would be put through block A first and then through 
block B. 

The Case of Independent Blocks. In the case of indepen- 
dent blocks it is evident that either combination 1 or 2 may 
be used, but in the case of related blocks but one effective 
order of block arrangement is possible, combination 2. 

The Case of More Than Two Blocks. Where a trade breaks 
up into more than two blocks the possible combinations in- 
crease rapidly with the number of blocks. In the case of a 
three block trade with blocks A, B, and C, some of the possible 
combinations would be as follows: 



B 

A ABC A B 

No. 1 No. 2 No. 3 



B 



A C 

No. 4 



With a four block trade the possible combinations would 
be much more than in a three block trade and so on. 

Practical Working Arrangements of Blocks. For any 
practical use it is doubtful if any combinations of block 
other than the straight series or parallel will serve any use- 
ful purpose. It may occasionally happen that some trade will 
call for some modified arrangement of either combination 1 or 
2, but the chance is so unlikely that it may be dismissed by 
merely drawing the attention to the fact that such combina- 
tions are possible. 



110 



THE INSTRUCTOR 



The Relation of the Blocks to Each Other. The first step 
for the instructor is therefore to determine the relation of the 
blocks in his trade to each other. Here he may find any one 
of three possible combinations: 

1. The blocks are all independent. 

2. The blocks are all related to each other. 

3. The blocks divide into two groups: 

(a) Independent blocks. 

(b) Groups of blocks that are dependent, but which 

form a group independent of any other block or 
group of blocks. 

The third case is very uncommon so far as practical work 
goes. While such combinations can be worked out as a rule 
they run the thing down finer than is necessary for practical 
working purposes in getting out a line of instruction. 

Some instructors tend to go into this matter of block ar- 
rangements altogether too finely : the result being a considerable 
increase in the complexity of the layout with no corresponding 
gain of importance in the efficiency of the instructional order 
resulting therefrom. 

The Case of Independent Blocks : The Instruction Line. 
Assume that we have a block with ten teaching jobs as indi- 
cated in the figure below : 



.10 
. 9 

. 8 
. 7 
. 6 
. 5 

4 

. 3 
. 2 

1 



A line drawn from the bottom of the diagram, indicates 
the order in which a learner will be instructed in the different 
jobs in the block. Call such a line an instruction line. Now 



ORDER FOR JOBS IN MORE THAN ONE BLOCK 111 

if we have a second independent block, either the series or the 
parallel arrangement can be used. 

BLOCK A. 
10 


8 
7 
6 
5 
4 
3 
2 
1 

BLOCK B. 
10 
9 

8 
7 
6 
5 

4 
3 

2 
1 

BLOCKS A AND B IN SERIES. 

BLOCK A. BLOCK B. 

10 10 

9 9 

8 8 

7 7 

6 6 

5 5 

4 4 

3 3 

2 2 

1 1 
BLOCKS A AND B IN PARALLEL. 



112 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Independent Blocks: Two Methods of Securing an In- 
structional Order. Evidently an instructional order can be 
secured in the case of the two possible combinations given 
above in two ways : 

We can draw the instruction line through the two blocks 
in series, and get the order of jobs as Bl, B2, B3, B4, B5, B6, 
B7, B8, B9, BIO, Al, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A8, A9, AlO, or 
the line might be drawn through all the number one jobs in 
both blocks, then the number two jobs, then the number three 
jobs, etc., giving us the instructional order of: Al, Bl, A2, 
B2, A3, B3, A4, B4, A5, B5, A6, B6, A7, B7, A8, B8, A9, B9, 
AlO, BlO. In either case we have all the jobs in the two 
blocks listed out in an instructional order, but a very different 
order. The first order of jobs is commonly said to be obtained 
by the method of block progression, the second order by the 
use of the method of spiral progression. 

The Block and Spiral Methods of Progression. Evidently 
these two methods of securing an instructional order can be 
used whenever a trade consists of two or more independent 
blocks and in that case only. If the blocks are all related 
there is no question of choice of method: that of series pro- 
gression must be used; but whenever there are independent 
blocks the choice between the two methods must be made. 
While no fixed rule can be given and each instructor must 
decide for himself, the following suggestions may be of 
service : 

Conditions Indicating the Desirability of the Use of the 
Spiral Method. In general it is considered that the spiral 
method is the best when it is intended to give what is often 
called an "all around training" for a given trade, that is, when 
the intention is to start with a green learner and instruct him 
in the entire trade. Thus, it is generally held that a course 
of instruction obtained by this method is the best to use 
where apprentices are to be trained to become journeymen, or 
in trade schools which aim at the same sort of complete training. 
It has the advantage that the learner is, at any given point in 
his progress approximately equally trained in all the different 
blocks of the complete course of instruction, so that should 



ORDER FOR JOBS IN MORE THAN ONE BLOCK 113 

he be discharged from the training department at any point 
before the completion of the training course, and go into 
production work, he can be placed about equally well in any 
of a number of lines of work. It has, of course, the cor- 
responding disadvantage that he is not so completely trained 
in any one block, or special branch of the trade. It is also 
true in general, that the spiral method lends itself to ap- 
prentice training in the so-called skilled shop trades, better 
than it does to so-called semi-skilled trades, where such trades 
show a multiblock layout, which is, however, not common. 

From the instructional standpoint it has the advantage 
that the learner in his progression through a course of in- 
struction derived by this method gets all the jobs with the 
least learning difficulties first, those with the next least learning 
difficulties second and so on. 

On the other hand the method of block progression lends 
itself best to a situation where the line of instruction obtained 
is to be used where it is desired to train a learner to be able 
to secure employment as a workman in some special branch 
of the trade, but it is not desired to train him so that he can 
start in on any one of as many branches as the length of his 
training will allow. Evidently a complete training in one block 
is better for a short time training period than a slight training 
in several blocks if it is desired that the learner shall make good 
on production work in as short a period of time as possible. 

The Case of More Than Two Blocks. The case of a multi- 
block trade of more than two blocks offers no special difficulties 
in getting out an effective instructional order except that 
greater complications are introduced by the number of the 
blocks. The method followed is the same, the instruction 
line being drawn through the blocks by either the method of 
the spiral or of the series progression and the successive jobs 
as indicated by the line being listed down into an instructional 
order. 

Multiblock Trades. The more highly skilled a trade the 
more likely it is to break up into blocks. The greater the 
number of special machines used the greater the number of 
blocks. The more nearly all the operations of a trade are 

8 



114 THE INSTRUCTOR 

carried on with the same sort of tools, or the same sort of 
materials, the more likely it is to be a single block trade. 
Semi-skilled trades are rarely multiblock. As already stated, 
single specialized jobs do not bring up the question either of 
blocking or of instructional order as between jobs. 

Value of the Block. Where blocking is possible it simplifies 
the problem of getting out an effective instructional order by 
making a preliminary grouping according to kinds of learning 
difficulties. Learning difficulties are of different kinds and 
when of the same kind, of different degrees of intensity. If 
grouping is first made according to kind of learning difficulties 
then the only problem inside any one group is degree of diffi- 
culty. Especially in highly complicated trades this method 
makes the laying out of the instructional order much easier 
than if an attempt were made to handle both degree and 
kind at the same time. 

Conclusion and Summary. This chapter deals only with 
the case of multiblock trades. Unless the trade is multi- 
block an instructor has no direct interest in it. Where we 
find that a trade is multiblock the matter of securing an effec- 
tive instructional order that will include the jobs in all the 
blocks must be considered. The instructor must first consider 
whether the blocks are independent or related, then arrange 
his blocks accordingly. If all blocks are independent he must 
choose between the methods of block progression and spiral 
progression; if they are all related, he uses only the block pro- 
gression. There is a chance that some of the blocks are re- 
lated and that others are independent; in this case a more 
complicated arrangement of blocks will be required and it 
may even be true that the spiral method might be used for a 
group of blocks that were independent while the block pro- 
gression method was used for that group and for the other 
blocks. Such complicated arrangements are, however, very 
unlikely, and are only mentioned by way of possibilities. 



PART IV 
HOW TO PUT IT OVER 



CHAPTER XV 
THE TRADE INSTRUCTOR 

The Purpose of Instruction given an instructor and a 
learner. The instructor can do something which the learner 
cannot do, for example, he can set type, or wipe a joint, or 
run a machine tool, or make a dovetail joint or an arc weld, or 
he knows something which the learner does not know, for 
example, how to read a blueprint, or how to get the offset for 
turning a taper, or how to figure the amount of wire required 
for an electrical job. 

In either case the problem is to impart, or "put over" 
that skill or that knowledge into the head or the hand of the 
learner, so that he can do the job that he could not do before, 
or knows what he did not know before. 

To accomplish this result something must be done, some 
sort of procedure must be followed, that is, there must be 
some sort of an instructing process. 

The Instructing Trade. A man who knows how to do 
things but who is paid, not for just knowing them, but for 
putting them over to other people is an instructor. No matter 
how much he knows, or how good a workman he may be, his 
value as an instructor depends on how thoroughly and rapidly 
he can impart what he knows. (Imparting, not doing, is his 
job.) It therefore may be properly said that there is an in- 
structor's "trade" just as much as there is a machinist's trade, 
or a printer's trade; and the instructor will be efficient in pro- 
portion as he knows his trade, that is, the instructing trade. 

The Two Factors in Successful Instruction. It is evident 
that the man who cannot impart what he knows cannot be 
a successful instructor. It is equally evident that the man 
who can impart but has nothing to impart is equally a failure 
The successful instructor must therefore, (1) Thoroughly 
know what he is to teach and (2) be able to impart it effectively. 

117 



118 THE INSTRUCTOR 

In industrial training this means that the instructor must 
know two trades his own trade and the teaching trade 
his own trade so that he will know what to teach and the 
teaching trade so that he will know how to teach it. Without 
a thorough command of both trades he will be a failure. 

Theory and Practice in Teaching. Behind the practice 
of any trade or profession lie the general principles of which 
each practice is an application. Each trade has its own tools, 
its own processes, its own methods. In proportion as a man 
knows the tools and processes of his trade and has acquired 
good judgment in selecting proper tools and processes for a 
given job he is a good workman and, to a considerable extent, 
his power to select and choose usually depends on his knowl- 
edge of the general principles on which the practice of his 
trade is based. 

To the ''rule of thumb" man each new job is a brand new 
problem, but the man who knows the principles of his trade 
will recognize that the new problem calls for an application 
of some general principles and he knows how those general 
principles should be applied to the best advantage in any 
particular case. He is therefore less likely to make mistakes 
and knows why he does that particular job as he does it. 

This is equally true of the trade of instruction. The in- 
structor familiar with the principles and methods, or " tools " of 
the teaching trade and practiced in applying them to given 
training problems can deal with any given problem (teaching 
job) much more effectively, rapidly and intelligently than can 
the rule of thumb instructor. He saves time, he saves energy 
and he does a better job. 

The Trained vs. the Untrained Instructor. The difference 
between the trained and the untrained instructor does not lie 
in the degree to which each has mastered what he proposes to 
teach. Often masters of their subject have proved to be 
very poor instructors. It used to be said of one of the greatest 
scientists in America on the faculty of one of the greatest 
universities, that he could not teach anybody anything. 
Thorough knowledge and mastery of what is to be taught is 
necessary for an instructor, but that alone will not make him 



THE TRADE INSTRUCTOR 119 

an effective instructor. The difference between the individual 
who knows and the individual who can impart what he knows 
lies in the ability of the good instructor to teach or put 
over what he knows, and this in turn rests largely on his 
knowledge of the principles and methods of the instructing 
business, just as such knowledge of principles and methods and 
tools would make a good workman in any trade. 

This instructing ability can be secured in various ways. 
Just as a trade may be " stolen " at the cost of spoiled machines 
and stock, so an instructor can steal his trade at the expense 
of his learners. Occasionally an individual seems to have the 
instinctive knack of teaching in a fairly effective way. In 
general, however, training shows as in other trades. The 
trained instructor shows his training in his ability to always 
use the most suitable methods, to save the most time and 
energy, and in his ability to organize his knowledge in the 
best way for instructional purposes. Moreover, the trained 
instructor, through his knowledge of principles, knows why 
he does things, and why some methods will work and some 
will not, in doing a given teaching job. He has the advantage 
of knowing the theory that lies behind his practice. Hence a 
competent workman who has been trained as an instructor, 
on taking up instructing work, is at a great advantage over 
the untrained individual, who may have an equal command 
of the trade, because he is able to impart effectively what he 
knows, as soon as he begins to instruct. 

Instructor Training Courses. The purpose of instructor 
training courses is not to attempt to teach a man anything 
about the practice of his trade. His presence in the course 
guarantees that he knows his job, so far as doing the job is 
concerned. The purpose of the training is to acquaint the 
man with the principles, practice, and methods of tools of the 
new trade which he proposes to follow: that of an imparter, 
instructor, or teacher, and to give him an opportunity to learn 
to apply these principles, methods, and practices to the problem 
of instructing learners in the trade of which he is already a 
master. 

In a number of cases special instructor training courses 
have been established to train competent mechanics to apply 



120 



THE INSTRUCTOR 



the principles of the teaching trade to the putting over of 
their own trade, and have been of considerable assistance to 
instructors in trades and to foremen who had to break in 
green help . Among the more recent instructor training courses 
that have been operated have been those conducted by the 
Emergency Fleet Corporation in connection with the training 
of shipyard workers. 

PRODUCTION AND INSTRUCTION 



Purpose or Aim. 


To turn out a de- 
finite article from 
a given piece of 
stock. 


To instruct a given 
individual in a 
definite thing. 


Man Responsible. 


Workman. 


Instructor. 


Material worked 
upon. 


Stock new or par- 
tially worked up. 


Learner, green or 
partially trained. 


Procedure. 


Successive produc- 
tion operations in 
a determined or- 
der. 


Successive instruc- 
tion steps in a 
determined order. 


Means used. 


Suitable tools and 
machines. 


Suitable methods 
of instruction. 


Character of pro- 
duct tested by. 


Inspection of 
product. 


Inspection of 
learners' ability 
to do the thing 
that the lesson 
was to teach him. 



CHAPTER XVI 
WHAT INSTRUCTION IS 

Methods of Instruction the Teacher's Tools. If instruction 
is a "trade'* the instructor must be regarded as a skilled 
workman whose "job" is to turn out a "product'* (men who 
do know or can do) from "stock" (men who do not know or 
who cannot do) by an intelligent selection of tools and a 
skillful use of those selected (methods of instruction). Just 
as in other trades the sort of material worked upon and the 
sort of product required has led to the development of tools 
which the good workman uses with judgment, selecting at each 
step in his job, and for different jobs, and different kinds of 
stock, the tool which will give the best results, and always 
using that tool with skill and judgment, so in the instruction 
trade there have been developed various ways of teaching or 
methods of instruction, with which the good instructor is famil- 
iar and which he knows how to use with intelligence, selecting 
in each case the particular method best adapted to the particu- 
lar teaching job at hand and to the characteristics of the 
learner whom he has to teach. 

How Methods have been Developed. Just as in the differ- 
ent trades it has been found that certain operations performed 
in certain order with certain tools and machines yield the best 
results in turning out a certain product from a particular 
kind of stock, so in teaching, it has been found that certain 
ways of going at the teaching problem recognizing certain 
steps in dealing with the ideas to be taught, and carrying out 
these steps in a certain order, yield the quickest and best 
results with given kind of learner who is to be taught certain 
things for a certain purpose. 

Without going into details at this stage it is evident that 
an apprentice greatly interested in trade processes but not 
in books might need different treatment from one of a "book- 

121 



122 THE INSTRUCTOR 

ish" type of mind that the problem of teaching trade pro- 
cesses would be a different one from that of teaching abstract 
mathematics and that in each case the way in which the 
teaching work was carried on would be determined by what 
was to be taught and who it was to be taught to. 

Effective Instruction. Whatever the methods adopted, 
the measure of the effectiveness of the instruction is deter- 
mined by 

(a) The fact that at the completion of the instructional 
process the learner has completely grasped the new ideas, or 
can do the new piece of work. 

(b) The degree to which this result was obtained with 
the least expenditure of time. 

(c) The degree to which this result was obtained with 
the least expenditure of energy and effort on the part of both 
learner and instructor. 

It is evident that the first condition must be met; if the 
learner has not "got" what the instructor intended to teach 
him, the whole proposition has failed, the instructor has "fallen 
down on his job," and he must either try it again and stick to it 
until the man has "got" the thing to be taught or admit that 
he made a mistake in attempting to teach that particular thing 
to that particular man at that particular time. On the other 
hand, the instructor may have succeeded in "putting over" 
the lesson, yet may have used such unsuitable methods that he 
may be properly criticized for having used up much more of 
his time and of the man's time than would be needed had that 
particular instructing job been carried out in a "workman- 
like" manner. Both conditions (a) and (b) may have been 
met and yet the instructor be open to criticism for having 
made the instruction unnecessarily "hard" by going at the 
teaching job in such a way that unnecessary energy has been 
expended either on his part or on the part of the learner. 

One Common Error is to Consider Condition (" a ") Only. 
Many instructors feel that if the learner has eventually mas- 
tered the subject of the lesson to a reasonable degree the whole 
matter is settled since condition (a) in the last paragraph 
has been met. They often fail to regard matters affecting 



WHAT INSTRUCTION IS 123 

unnecessary expenditure of time and energy, both on the 
part of the pupil, as being important. It is a fact, however, 
that the work of a skillful instructor differs from that of a poor 
instructor largely in the degree to which he is able to "put 
over" the lesson in the most efficient way; and, in order to 
do this he must be able to use proper methods of instruction 
intelligently and skillfully. 

Another common error is to confuse certain parts of an 
instructor's work with instruction proper. This confusion 
is particularly common in connection with telling, showing, 
and dealing, which are not, in themselves, instructing, but 
which untrained instructors often confuse with the instruc- 
tional part of their work. 

Teaching and Telling. One of the most common errors 
of the untrained teacher is to imagine that telling is teaching, 
that if he merely tells a learner how to do something he has 
taught that man something. Telling is often a necessary 
part of the instructor's work, but mere telling never constitutes 
real instruction. If an instructor says to a man, "This is a 
dog," or "This is a monkey wrench," the man has been told 
something, but he has not been taught anything. It is 
undoubtedly true, especially in training green men, that a 
considerable amount of telling is required, but that part of the 
instruction work should not be confounded with instruction 
proper. An instructor must do many things beside instruct. 
One of the signs of a trained instructor is that he knows when 
he is telling and when he is instructing, and that he knows when 
to tell and when to instruct and one of the greatest reasons 
for poor instruction is that a poor teacher does not know how 
to make this distinction. 

Why Telling is not Instruction. Instruction is not telling 
because instruction is always accompanied by some action on 
the part of the learner. He either thinks or does. Simply 
telling him the name of a dog or a monkey wrench, and stop- 
ping there does not require any "come back" or, in teaching 
language, "reaction," on the part of the man. But we can 
teach a man how to use a dog on a lathe job or the proper way 
to place a monkey wrench on a nut because he can be made 



124 THE INSTRUCTOR 

to think about the job or to do the job or to think about the 
job while he is doing it. 

Telling is not Knowing. The converse of the above state- 
ment is equally true. The ability of a learner to merely tell 
about a thing is no evidence that he understands the thing or 
can do it. Suppose it is desired to ascertain if a man knows a 
wrench. If the instructor merely says to him "What is the 
name of this? " and the man tells him that it is a wrench there 
is no evidence that that man is using any faculty except 
memory. But if the instructor says to the man, "Pick out 
a wrench from that kit/* and the man picks out a wrench 
and not a screw driver, we have some evidence that the 
names are connected in the man's mind with the proper tool, 
as distinguished from other tools. Untrained instructors 
frequently say, "Do you understand this?" and when the 
learner says "yes" the instructor thinks that he has taught 
something when, in fact, there is no evidence that the learner 
has been taught anything. The trained instructor is much 
less likely to fall into such errors because his training helps 
him to avoid them, and he knows that they are errors. 

Drilling is not Instructing. Drilling in the school sense 
means requiring a learner to repeat an operation (mental 
or manual) a considerable number of times with the aim of 
making that thing an automatic "come back." An instructor 
for example, requires a learner to repeat the words "The deci- 
mal equivalent of an eighth of an inch is one hundred and 
twenty-five thousandths of an inch" for five hundred times 
with the aim of getting him into such a mental condition 
that whenever he heard "an eighth of an inch" he will auto- 
matically think "one hundred and twenty -five thousandths." 
This would be a pure drill process. While work of this sort 
has its place its value depends largely on the sort of learner 
and the subject of the lesson it is doubtful if it has much 
value in industrial training. It is merely desired to point 
out here that drill work of this character should not be con- 
founded with instruction. Poor instructors often think that 
they are teaching when they are merely drilling. 

Why Drilling is not Instructing. Drilling is not instruct- 



WHAT INSTRUCTION IS 125 

ing because it assures no intelligent thinking on the part of 
the learner. A parrot could be drilled in the decimal equiva- 
lent of 1-8 as well as a learner. A learner could be taught to 
figure out this value as required, or use a table of equivalents 
intelligently. The parrot could not. 

Drilling and Repetition Work. Drilling should be distin- 
guished from repetition work, where a man may be asked to 
deal with a series of problems involving application of the same 
principle or to make a number of similar articles in the shop. 
Under proper conditions repetition work may be an important 
part of the training process, as will be discussed later. Repeti- 
tion work involves a steady gain by the learner either in mental 
or manual skill, until he reaches what has been called the 
"saturation" point: that is, he can do the job as well and as 
quickly as he will ever be able to do it. Drilling aims at a purely 
automatic "come back" only, without conscious thought or 
intelligently directed work. 

Instructing and Showing. The same statement may be 
made as to the relation of instructing and showing. This 
comes up particularly in shop instruction. Showing a man 
how to do a thing, while necessary, is not, in itself instructing 
that man; though, as pointed out elsewhere, it may, under 
certain conditions, be made a part of the instructing process. 
A man who is merely shown does not have to think. He 
may or he may not. The common complaint of the poor 
or untrained instructor that he showed the learner how to do 
something and then the fellow could not do it, and therefore 
is stupid is due to this confusion between instructing and 
showing. The man has failed to learn, not because he is 
stupid, but because he has not been really taught, and the 
blame for the failure rests not on the man but on the instructor. 

Why Showing is not Instructing. Showing is not instructing 
because as in the case of telling, simply showing involves 
no necessary activity, mental or manual, on the learners' part. 
By the use of various devices already described (such as the 
use of the informational line of approach in certain steps of 
the lesson), this activity can be secured and telling may become 
a part of the instructing process. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE INSTRUCTING OPERATION 
THE LESSON 

Preliminary What is a Lesson. In its simplest sense a 
lesson is a teaching job. In teaching practice the term 
lesson is used to designate the entire procedure followed 
in teaching or "putting over" some specific thing. This 
specific thing which is to be taught may be called the "in- 
struction unit," or, more commonly, the "content" or the 
"subject" of the lesson. The use of these terms is entirely 
independent of the character of the teaching unit. It makes 
no difference whether the subject of the lesson or instruction 
unit is how to erect a perpendicular to a given line, how to set 
a stick of type, how to set up a job on a machine or how to 
saw a board off square, there is a teaching unit to put over or a 
lesson to teach. If any one of these teaching units is to be 
"put over" to somebody we must have a process of instruc- 
tion; that is, a lesson must be taught. 

If we think of the instructor as a workman, the learner as 
stock, the steps as operations, and the methods as tools, we 
have a close resemblance, between the procedure for production 
and the instructional procedure. 

The Aim Must be Specific. The subject of the lesson 
determines the whole subsequent procedure and hence must 
be given first consideration, and must be clearly defined; 
that is, it must be specific. A failure on the part of the 
instructor to determine exactly what he proposes to teach, 
because, while he thinks that he knows what he is going to 
teach, he has not thought his teaching job through to the 
point of knowing exactly what he is going to put over is one 
of the most common causes of inefficient instruction, and the 
learner is often blamed for not "catching on" when the real 

126 



THE INSTRUCTING OPERATION 127 

trouble lies with the failure of the instructor to definitely 
formulate the subject of the lesson. A lesson whose aim was 
"to teach something about something to somebody" will not 
be effective. Suppose an instructor states that he proposes 
to teach a lesson on the automobile, but he doesn't know 
whether it is on ignition, or timing, or starting, or on clutch 
control. There is little chance that a lesson starting with so 
vague an idea as to what is to be accomplished will be either 
profitable or efficient. It cannot be well planned or efficiently 
carried out. On the other hand, suppose the instructor says 
"I am going to teach just how to lay off a 90 angle," or 
"I am going to teach the proper method of starting and 
stopping an electric drill " he has laid down a definitely specific 
aim and hence can plan and teach an efficient lesson. 

The Learner Must be Ready for that Particular Lesson. 
The determination of method, content and aim all center 
around the man to be taught. The aim of any lesson is 
determined, in general, by the aim of the course of instruction 
or training of which that instruction unit is a, part. What- 
ever the aim or the content or the method of a given lesson, 
it can only be taught effectively at a certain point in the 
learner's progress and development. 

The teacher must therefore be able to "locate" a given 
teaching unit with regard to what has already been taught 
and what is still to be taught to make the learner competent 
in that particular line of work, and see to it that the given unit 
of instruction comes to the learner at the right point in his 
training. This part of the instruction problem is fully dis- 
cussed in Part III. 

The Content Must be Teachable. By this is meant that it 
must be possible to thoroughly accomplish the aim of the lesson 
under the proposed working conditions. Thus it is desired to 
complete the lesson in a certain time or place, or by certain 
methods. The content must be so selected that these condi- 
tions can be met. For example, suppose it were desired to teach 
a learner how to make a Western Union splice, or how to set 
up a job in a machine lathe, and it was planned to teach that 
lesson in five minutes, evidently it could not be done. Either 



1S8 THE INSTRUCTOR 

the time must be increased or the amount to be taught must 
be cut down. Or it is proposed to teach the same lesson in a 
room outside of the shop, or without wire and pliers, so that 
the instructor can merely describe how the job should be 
done, that is, he can only talk about it. Under these condi- 
tions that job must evidently be taught by such a poor method 
that it is practically unteachable. 

Such errors as those cited above are easily avoided, but 
a much more serious error, common to most new instructors, 
consists in undertaking to teach too much in one lesson, 
instead of breaking the content up into a series of sufficiently 
small teaching units. The angle smith instructor undertakes 
to teach a green man "how to strike" in one lesson or instruc- 
tion unit, or "how to run a fire" in one "bite," in one lesson, 
the result being failure because the instruction unit is too great 
to be taught in one lesson. Each would involve a series of 
lessons, each dealing with a small portion of all that the man 
must be finally taught for example: on firing No. 1 Building 
up, No. 2 Cleaning out, No. 3 Operating. 

The Instructing Process a Series of " Operations." The 
instructing process consists of a series of steps or "operations," 
carried on in a certain order. In any training process these 
"operations" are found and they are always in the same 
order. Regardless of the time consumed, a lesson is not 
completed until all of these operations have been carried 
through successfully and in the proper order. A lesson there- 
fore means simply going through all the necessary steps in an 
instruction process with one instruction unit. 

The lesson should not be confused with the fact that men 
and instructors may, under some conditions, meet at certain 
fixed times. An instructor may teach a man several lessons 
during one morning. The two ideas of a working period and 
a lesson are in no way connected. It is a fact that a good 
instructor will try to complete any teaching job as a "con- 
tinuous process" for obvious reasons. He would rather not 
have the lesson broken into two or more parts with an interval 
during which his man is thinking of something else, but the 
continuous lesson is not absolutely necessary, although highly 
advisable in the interests of efficiency. 



THE INSTRUCTING OPERATION ISO 

The Four Instructional Operations. Different authorities 
on teaching have divided the lesson into different numbers 
of steps, but the following arrangement is one of the simplest 
for emergency training instruction. According to this plan, 
each complete teaching lesson calls for four steps, or teaching 
operations known as step 1, Preparation, step 2, Presentation, 
step 3, Application and step 4, Testing (or s Inspection) . These 
steps, are always carried out in the order given The purpose 
of step 1 is to get the learner ready to be instructed, of step 2 
to instruct him, of step 3 to check up errors, and of step 4 to 
give a final inspection of the instruction job. 

Who Conducts these " Operations " The Learner or the 
Instructor? In general, under all conditions, the instructor 
must control and direct the instruction process, but a careful 
distinction must be drawn between the instructor as a director 
and the instructor as a demonstrator. As director he occupies 
much the position of a foreman directing workmen. The 
foreman does not do the work, the men do it. In the same 
way, the instruction will be efficient in proportion as the 
learners do the work or the thinking. One of the most com- 
mon signs of poor teaching is that the instructor does the 
thinking or does the work the learners passively following. 
That is, the instructor shows or demonstrates and the learners 
merely imitate. 

The problem of the teacher is to see that each learner per- 
forms the successive teaching operations on himself. What he 
gains is by virtue of his own activity mental or manual and 
from the manual or mental activity of another he gains nothing. 

The teacher, therefore, is not the driver, but the skilled 
director of the learner's activity. He is skilled in so handling 
each teaching problem that the learner works and thinks 
effectively toward the desired end the accomplishment of 
the aim of the lesson. In order to do this he must control 
the situation at each step, but often without the man's knowl- 
edge. He must so control situations that the man thinks 
in a certain way and towards certain points, but he must 
do that thinking spontaneously and naturally. As will be 
pointed out in the following pages, in carrying out the instruc- 
tion process the instructor takes the initiative in certain steps 



130 THE INSTRUCTOR 

and the learner takes the initiative in others. The instructor 
knows this, but the learner often does not. 

Concentration on the Lesson. It has already been stated 
that the aim of a lesson must be definitely determined. Even 
where this has been done there is still great danger of lack of 
conciseness. That is, the instructor does not stick to the 
particular job that he started out to do. Before taking up 
the detailed discussion, two common errors should be noted : 

In handling a given lesson the instructor does not confine 
that lesson to the given subject. He starts to teach a certain 
thing, but somewhere in the lesson he undertakes to teach 
some other things not included in the particular unit that he is 
handling. For example, the lesson is on how to sharpen a 
certain tool, or how to sew on a button. During the progress 
of the lesson the instructor brings in something about the 
manufacture of tool steel or something about button holes. 
This sort of thing is very common with certain instructors 
and is bad practice; any lesson should be held strictly to its 
subject. This procedure is sometimes justified on the ground 
that it interests the learner, but it requires long experience 
and teaching skill to know when it is safe to do it; in general, 
it is a dangerous proposition. 

In carrying on the successive steps or operations of a lesson, 
the instructor does not stick to one step at a time he mixes 
them up he tries to teach a learner something new and at the 
same time attempts to find out if he has learned something 
which has already been taught. Each step is a teaching 
"job " and the effective teacher will do one job at a time. 

The Methods Must be Suitable. As is pointed out later 
in detail various methods have been developed for carrying 
on the instructional process just as various tools and machines 
have been developed for carrying out production. Just as 
suitable tools and machines must be used to get the best 
results on a given production job so suitable methods will 
give best results on any given instruction job. One of the 
chief distinctions between the good and the poor instructor 
is that the former knows how to select suitable methods of 
instruction, and the latter does not. 



THE INSTRUCTING OPERATION 131 

The choice of a given method in dealing with a given 
teaching problem must rest with the judgment of the instructor. 
While general rules can be given, they will not take the place 
of experience. Just as an experienced workman will do a 
better job than an apprentice, although the apprentice may 
know all the operations and machines, so with experience in 
instruction will come a sense of what to do which will gradually 
develop into what has been called, the "art of instructing," 
as distinguished from the theory of that profession. 

Supervised vs. Unsupervised Training. If at the end of the 
period of instruction a man is shot out into the shop without 
any further assistance, he will get his trade intelligence very 
slowly and ineffectively, but if he is still under the supervision 
of a "trainer" the training process will go on very much more 
rapidly and effectively. Under emergency training conditions 
an instructor must, in the sense indicated above, be a trainer 
as well as an instructor. By instructing the learner in the 
operations and in the technical knowledge and then training 
for trade intelligence, shop training can be accomplished in less 
time than by undertaking to depend upon the instructing 
process alone. 

It is evident that in most cases the man must be trained 
so that he can "pull together" his trade ability, his technical 
knowledge and his trade experiences to meet the demands 
of different trade situations. This process of pulling together, 
or assembling these factors corresponds to what is known, in 
general school work as the generalization stage of instruction. 

One of our greatest educational philosophers has said 
that a man is educated in proportion as he can summon all 
his resources and use them effectively in dealing with a given 
situation. Effective shop training therefore comes through 
effective instruction followed by effective training. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

DETAILED DISCUSSION OF STEPS IN THE LESSON. 
STEP i. PREPARATION 

Preliminary. The different steps in the process of instruc- 
tion have already been pointed out, but for convenience are 
repeated here. 

1. Preparation. 3. Application. 

2. Presentation. 4. Inspection. 

This section deals with step 1. 

The First Step in the Lesson. Preparation. The first 
problem of the instructor is to establish what may be called 
a foundation for the teaching of the new idea which he intends 
to "put over" in that particular lesson. This is accom- 
plished by getting the learner to think about some things 
which he already knows which have something to do with the 
problem which he is to be taught or the job which he is to be 
taught to do. He has in his mind all sorts of recollections 
of past experiences and observations, most of which have 
nothing to do with the subject of the lesson in hand, but, except 
in very rare cases, he has, among those recollections some 
which have a bearing on the subject of the lesson. Thus 
suppose the lesson was on the operation of the brakes of an 
electric car. In almost any community it could be assumed 
that the learner had seen a car, had seen it stop and knew that 
the motorman did something to stop it. By getting the 
learner to think about the problem of stopping the car as a 
job that somebody had to do somehow and for which some 
provision must be made in the mechanism of the car, his 
attention could be centered on that particular set of observa- 
tions (relating to the stopping of the car) and he could be 
prevented from thinking about a lot of other things which 
he might know about the car but which have nothing to do 

132 



THE LESSON. STEP 1. PREPARATION 133 

with the stopping of a car, and which the instructor knows 
have no bearing on the aim of the proposed lesson. 

By preparation the Instructor therefore, in some way, 
makes the learner think about certain particular things which 
will aid him in comprehending the particular new thing which 
is to be taught. This may be called a process whereby the 
learner is led to establish in his own mind "contact points" 
between what he already knows and the new ideas which 
the instructor plans to have him add to what he knows through 
the lesson that is to be taught. It will be noted that, in 
carrying out this first step, it is assumed that somewhere in 
his past experience, the learner has had some kind of an 
experience or has some knowledge which can be used as a 
foundation for building up the proposed lesson. It should 
also be clear that, while the instructor knows, in a general 
way, what he can get from the learner, and selects those ideas 
which he thinks that he can best use for a teaching base, the 
learner is himself usually unconscious of the relation of what 
he finds himself thinking about, to the subject of the lesson 
which the instructor has planned to teach. 

The problem of the instructor in this first instructional 
operation or step is, by the use of some suitable method, 
to start the learner thinking about something which he knows 
and which the instructor can "tie" the lesson to. Even in 
the simplest form of instruction on semi-skilled work the 
need for this step exists and its omission will increase the 
difficulty of instruction, and usually renders it inefficient. 

Elementary and Derived Lessons. Where the ideas which 
the instructor uses for the teaching base must be drawn from 
what the learner has picked up in his life outside of anything 
that the instructor may have taught him, (and so has to 
guess that he has it) we have what may be called an elementary 
or primary lesson. Where the ideas for the teaching base 
can be drawn from something which the instructor has taught 
the learner, usually in some primary lesson on the same line of 
work, the new lesson will "mesh" into the old, the instructor 
will not have to guess as to available ideas for the teaching 
base and the lesson may be called a derived or secondary 
lesson. 



134 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Preparation Must be Completed before Presentation is 
Started. The success of the following steps in the lesson is 
dependent on this first step being thoroughly carried out, 
and the instructor must be sure that this is the case before 
proceeding farther. One of the most common errors in 
teaching is the failure to thoroughly prepare the learner for 
the additional material to be put over in step 2 1 (Presenta- 
tion), and is usually due to the fact that the instructor is in 
too much of a hurry; he "skimps " this step. As a result step 2 
fails, this comes out in step 3, and the whole job has to be done 
over again. It pays to make a good job of step 1. 

No standard rule can be given for determining when learners 
are prepared. An experienced instructor can tell an in- 
experienced one had best err, if at all, on the safe side and, if 
anything, over-prepare. 

Preparation Gives no Additional Information. It should 
be clearly understood that, in the work of preparation as 
commonly carried out, no new ideas are added to those already 
in the learner's mind, and in no case are any of the new ideas 
which are to be taught in the lesson touched upon at this 
stage. The instructor does not undertake to add any new 
ideas to those already in the learner's mind. He does, (often 
by skilful questioning) lead the learner to select from all the 
ideas in his mind certain particular ideas which he has con- 
sciously or unconsciously "picked up" at some previous 
time. These ideas are those which the instructor has deter- 
mined to make the teaching basis of the lesson in hand. 

Exceptional Instances. In rare instances when there is 
absolutely nothing that can be used as a teaching base the 
instructor must provide something that can be used for that 
purpose. Experience has shown that this is rarely neces- 
sary in trade training especially if the instructor is experienced 
and ingenious. When a teaching base cannot be found the 
learner must be given an experience which can be used. Until 
this has been done it is practically useless to try to teach the 
lesson. Of course when an instructor is forced to create a 
base, additional time and energy are consumed. 

1 See table, page 148. 



THE LESSON. STEP 1. PREPARATION 135 

In this Step the Instructor Takes the Initiative. In step 1 
it will be noted that the instructor takes the initiative. He 
knows what he wants to get the man to thinking about, and 
he so directs the man's thinking that he does think about these 
things to the exclusion of all other things. But the learner 
cannot be made to think of these things merely by commanding 
"Think about so and so." These things must be suggested. 
This is where the skill comes in in this step of the lesson. The 
man must be stimulated to think or to recall previous knowledge 
or experiences, and his mental activity directed by a method 
which makes him unconscious that he is being directed. 
The most usual method of accomplishing this result is by a 
certain kind of questioning which may be termed "suggestive 
questioning, " whose purpose is not to secure information, but 
to arouse and direct the learner's thinking. Sometimes the 
instructor will use some incident or tell some story as a part 
of this step. This latter method of stimulating and directing 
the thinking of an audience is often used by public speakers to 
good advantage. A man is speaking on juvenile crime, and he 
begins "This morning I saw a boy arrested for stealing apples. 
What are we going to do with him? " his object being to get his 
audience to thinking about the subject on which he is going 
to speak. 



CHAPTER XIX 

DETAILED DISCUSSION OF STEPS IN THE LESSON. 
STEP 2. PRESENTATION 

Presentation. Step 2 in the Lesson. Having brought a 
learner to the point where he is thinking about such portions 
of his previous experiences or knowledge as will be of value in 
teaching the proposed lesson, according to the teaching plan, 
the next step is to lead him to "get" the new ideas which the 
instructor desires to "tack on" to what he already knows, 
and this step is now carried out by the use of some suitable 
method. 

The Function of Presentation is to Add the New Ideas to 
those Already in the Learner's Mind. If the work of prepara- 
tion has been properly carried out, the man now has in his 
mind certain ideas or certain pictures which the instructor, 
in planning the lesson, determined would serve him best as a 
base for teaching the subject of that lesson. The next step 
is therefore, by the use of a suitable method, to add to the 
ideas which are in the learner's mind the new ideas embodied 
in the subject of the lesson. Various methods of instruction 
are discussed in detail later, but it is necessary that a method 
of instruction suitable to the subject of the lesson be selected : 
For example, if the aim of the lesson were to teach a man to 
think intelligently about the subject of the lesson, it is evident 
that a different method would have to be employed from that 
which would be used if the aim of the lesson were merely to 
instruct him in the correct method of doing a job, where no 
thinking or judgment was required. A skilful instructor, out 
of his experience, will always select a method which is best 
adapted to the aim and the subject of the lesson. 

The distinction between the aim of step 1 and step 2 must 
be clearly understood. As already pointed out, step 1, Prepa- 

130 



THE LESSON. STEP 2. PRESENTATION 137 

ration, does not aim to add anything to the man's knowl- 
edge or skill, but merely to get him to thinking exclusively 
about certain things which the instructor has already deter- 
mined can be best used for a teaching base. Step 2, however, 
has for its aim the imparting of additional knowledge to the 
man or giving him additional training. At the close of step 
1 he knows no more than he did at the beginning of the lesson. 
At the close of step 2, the teaching unit should have been put 
over. At this stage in the process of instruction there is 
however no evidence that he can either apply what he has 
learned or that he has thoroughly grasped the subject of the 
lesson. In fact, it may be safely assumed that he has not; 
that there are certain weak points where the teaching has not 
been entirely effective. To leave the teaching operation at 
this stage would mean that the instructor would neither know 
that he had taught efficiently nor that the man could apply 
what had been taught effectively; hence the necessity for the 
remaining steps in the lesson. 

" Sticking to the Job " in Presentation. As already pointed 
out, the whole organization of the lesson is determined by 
the character of the instruction unit. The method of in- 
struction is determined by aim, subject, and characteristics 
of the individual to be taught. While on the one hand 
all that it is proposed to present to the learner in the way 
of new ideas or new knowledge is given during this step in 
the lesson, the succeeding steps being devoted to what may 
be called "checking up and inspecting," it is necessary that 
this should be a clean cut piece of work and that nothing 
should be considered during this step which is not in- 
cluded in the instruction meant to be taught in that particular 
lesson. 

Some illustrations may make this point clearer. For 
example, consider the case of instructing a green man in 
the care of the fire in the blacksmith's shop. The instruction 
unit is on building up. The instructor in presenting this 
lesson brings in a lot of discussion about operations in 
heating the iron, which belongs in another instruction unit. 
He has not stuck to his job, and to that extent has messed 
things up. 



188 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Effective Order in Presentation. In this step of the lesson 
a series of ideas must be presented to the learner, and these 
ideas must be successively presented in the most effective 
order, this order having been previously determined. An 
efficient teacher will pay a great deal of attention to using an 
effective order in presentation and the failure to do this is a 
very common error of untrained instructors. 

The Question of Emphasis. Among the ideas or opera- 
tions which are to be taught during this step of the lesson, 
some are unquestionably more important than others, and the 
efficient instructor will recognize this by emphasizing the 
more important ideas more strongly than the less important 
points. For example, in training a heater boy the necessity 
of picking out a rivet at the right heat would be emphasized 
more than the proper method of picking it up with the tongs. 

Effective training requires skill on the part of the teacher, 
in properly analyzing the teaching unit with regard to empha- 
sis, and considerable practice is often required before it can be 
done effectively. 

Limited Content. Almost all instructors err on the side 
of trying to include too much in the subject of one lesson. 
If a given thing is to be taught, it is far better to cut it up into a 
series of small lessons than to undertake to teach one elaborate 
lesson; for example, if it were desired to teach a man to operate 
an electric drill it would be far better to plan one lesson on 
stopping and starting, one lesson on catching the drill point in 
the prick punch hole, one on what to do when the drill sticks, 
etc., rather than to undertake to teach the whole job in one 
lesson. 



CHAPTER XX 

DETAILED DISCUSSION OF STEPS IN THE LESSON. 
STEP 3. APPLICATION 

Preliminary. If step 1 be considered as putting in the 
foundation and step 2 as building the house on that founda- 
tion, this third step may be thought of as equivalent to a 
builder's inspection. So far as anybody knows the house is all 
right but before turning it over to the owner it is carefully 
inspected, defects or omissions noted and corrected, inspected 
again, and this process is carried on until the builder is sure 
that everything is according to the specifications. 

In the same way, in carrying out the instructional pro- 
cess, the instructor has laid the teaching base in step 1, he 
has presented the new material in step 2. So far as he knows 
he has done a good instruction job, but in this step he puts the 
learner through a trial inspection that is, he puts the man at 
work on whatever was given in step 2, and checks up along 
two lines (1) Does he know it, and (2) Can he do it. 

This step therefore serves two purposes. 

(1) Since what the man has learned is of no value to 
him unless he can apply it, and since power to apply a thing 
is different from simply knowing it, he must be trained in 
actually applying, or putting into practice what was presented 
to him in the preceding step of the lesson, application. 

(2) A second, and equally important purpose to be 
accomplished by this step is to check up the degree to which 
the learner has grasped all the points in the lesson which has 
been taught, whether processes or ideas. From this stand- 
point this step, application, corresponds to a road bed inspec- 
tion on a railroad whose purpose is to detect "bad spots" 
which should be fixed. In the same way, no matter how care- 
fully the man has been taught, there will be some "weak 

139 



140 THE INSTRUCTOR 

points," some "holes in the road" which must be located 
and made good before going any further. A common illustra- 
tion of this would be an arithmetic lesson on interest at six 
per cent. After the teacher has presented the method of 
doing it, he will then have the pupil solve a series of problems 
in interest at six per cent. If the lesson were on figuring the 
offset for a taper, the learner would then be given a series of 
problems in figuring offsets. If the teaching unit were on 
how to correctly mark templates, the learner would be given 
a template to mark. If it were on bolting up, the man would 
be given a bolting up job. During this process of applica- 
tion, however, the instructor watches the man while he is 
working at the job, notes where he fails to grasp some points 
in the problem, or has not "caught on" to some part of an 
operation, and gives him additional instruction on that part 
then and there. 

The instructor is therefore using this application step not 
only to give the learner training in applying, but also to find 
weak points in the man's knowledge or comprehension of the 
subject of the lesson. At the close of this step the instructor 
should be sure that the man has thoroughly "got" the lesson 
which is to be taught. The carrying out of this step effec- 
tively requires care and skill on the part of the instructor to 
determine just when to assist the learner and just how to assist 
him; but in no case should the instructor do the work for the 
man. Of course he might show him some particular step in 
the process which he did not understand, but the man should 
be required in this step to go through the whole job and to go 
through it a sufficient number of times so that the instructor 
is reasonably sure that all points have been mastered. 



CHAPTER XXI 

DETAILED DISCUSSION OF STEPS IN THE LESSON. 
STEP 4. TESTING 

Preliminary. As already stated the purpose of this step 
is to afford an opportunity for a final try out or inspection. 
The instructor should regard the result of the test as more or 
less a failure if the learner fails to do this work unaided. It 
indicates that the teaching process was not well carried out, 
that the instructor's judgment was incorrect and the teaching 
must be repeated. While this will often occur in practice, it is 
nevertheless true in theory that if the lessons were perfectly 
planned and perfectly taught inspection would show that all 
learners could successfully meet the test with one hundred 
per cent, efficiency. 

Each step must be complete before the next step is started. 
In carrying out the three teaching steps just discussed, any 
failure on the part of the instructor to complete one step 
before he takes up the next step results in an accumulation of 
difficulties. If the men are not properly prepared in step 1, 
they will not be properly taught in step 2. If they do not 
come up to step 3, thoroughly taught, the process of applica- 
tion will require too much time and too much energy. If 
application has not been properly carried out the men will fail 
in final test step 4. The instructor should therefore be as 
certain as is possible to see that each step has been thoroughly 
carried out before he starts the next one. 

The Aim of this Step. If the instructional process has 
been properly carried on up to this point the instructor is 
ready to take a chance that the learner has been properly 
taught, and if he is right the teaching job is finished, the 
learner is instructed, he can do what the instructor intended 
that he should be able to do or he knows what the instructor 
intended that he should know. The teaching unit has been 

141 



142 THE INSTRUCTOR 

put over and the teaching process is at an end. But while 
the instructor may feel sure that this is the case he does not 
know it because this fact cannot be assumed. During the 
preceding step he undoubtedly found many cases where addi- 
tional instruction on some parts of the lesson was necessary, 
and he therefore has assisted or directed the man more or less 
during that step. Although he carried on this phase of the 
instruction process until, in his judgment, the man had got 
the entire unit that was to be taught, nevertheless he has 
been going over it piecemeal, and not as a whole. 

He cannot, therefore, assume that, unaided and undirected 
the man who is under inspection can apply intelligently the 
subject of the teaching unit. That unaided, and absolutely 
on his own feet he can go through the whole process correctly. 

This step, therefore, may be regarded as fulfilling a function 
strictly comparable to that of final inspection. The instructor 
must now stop being an instructor and, becoming an in- 
spector, proceed to inspect the results of his teaching by testing 
in some suitable way, the ability of the learner to do the entire 
job alone. 



CHAPTER XXII 
SECURING TRADE INTELLIGENCE 

Completing the Training Process. The proceeding sec- 
tions dealt with the four instructional steps which must be 
carried through in order, in putting over any given teaching 
unit, such as, how to know when a rivet is heated to the right 
temperature. Each lesson should have been based upon some 
specific unit. If the instruction has been properly carried 
out the learner has been taught all the specific things that 
he needs to know. When this point is reached the instruction 
process is completed but the training process is not completed. 
The learner is in the same condition as a tnoroughly equipped 
shop having all necessary equipment. All of the material, 
tools and equipment would not be required for any one job, 
but it is all required for all the jobs that the shop has to do. 
For any particular job a selection must be made from all the 
equipment of the special machines, tools, etc., that would be 
required on that particular job. 

The properly instructed learner, in the same way, has 
at his command all the things which he has been taught, 
for the doing of any job in his special occupation. Just 
as the material and equipment for a given job must be picked 
out, so the properly trained man must be able, to pick out 
from all the things that he knows about his trade certain 
particular things that he knows or can do that will enable 
him to do a given job correctly: that is, he must be able to 
select intelligently. 

Evidently this power of intelligent selection of the certain 
parts of his knowledge and the certain portions of his skill 
could not be obtained by teaching the man any number of 
specific teaching units. The instructing process has done 
all it can do. This is where it "gets off." The learner is still 
to be completely trained. 

143 



144 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The ability to pick out the proper material and equipment 
for a given job does not come from simply knowing what 
material is on hand and the uses of this material; but does 
come from a wide shop experience. Jobs differ. The man 
who makes the selections must be trained through shop 
experience as well as instructed. 

In practice all jobs are not standardized. That is, under 
working conditions varying situations arise that require more 
than a mere knowledge of how to perform the operations. 
In the case of the bolter-up, no two plates can be handled 
in the same way. One plate springs one way and another 
a different way. The crane operator meets new situations 
continually. 

In connection with trade development modifications are 
continually being introduced. It is practically impossible 
to instruct a man in the exact way in which he should deal 
with every situation that will come up in his occupation. 
This would mean an endless instruction job. 

Training vs. Instruction. Through instruction the learner 
is equipped as thoroughly as is practicable with the things 
that he needs to know and to be able to do. His training 
must be completed before he can intelligently do the various 
jobs connected with his occupation. He lacks power to 
select or to pick out from all the skills, knowledge, etc., in 
which he has been instructed, and from past experiences, 
those which he must use in dealing with those conditions 
which surround the doing of the job itself. 

This power to intelligently select, or to "use your head" 
is often called trade intelligence and can only be secured 
through a training process; not through an instructional 
process. 

A man is trained by going up against a series of situations 
which must be dealt with by exercising this power of selection. 
Some men are trained more than others and are the sort of 
men who are characterized as "using their heads on the job." 

This training can only be secured through experience 
that is, by doing a lot of jobs under varying conditions. 



PART V 
METHODS OF INSTRUCTION 



145 



CHAPTER XXIII 

METHODS THAT CAN BE USED IN THE FIRST STEP 
OF THE LESSON 

Preliminary The preceding part described the four in- 
structing operations and explained the use of each operation, 
or, as they are commonly called, steps. There are various 
methods or ways of butting over each of these steps. Each 
step can be put over in more than one way that is, different 
methods can be used for each step just as different tools might 
be used to carry out a given operation in the shop. In putting 
over any given lesson an instructor uses for each step the 
method that he judges will give the best results under the 
circumstances. The kind of a lesson, whether technical or 
production, the type of the lesson, whether elementary or 
derived, the kind of learner, the instructing conditions, the 
proposed line of approach, all must be taken into account in 
deciding what method to use in putting through any step in a 
given lesson. This part describes the various methods that 
may be used for each of the four steps in the instructing 
process. 

The names of these methods are shown in the table on 
page 148. 

METHODS THAT MAY BE USED IN STEP i 

Preliminary. In the preparatory step the following methods 
are common teaching practice : 

(1) The method of suggestive questioning. 

(2) The method of the suggestive illustration or demon- 
stration. 

(3) The method of giving the learner an experience which 
will direct his thoughts to the ideas which the teacher wishes 
to make his teaching base. 

147 



148 



THE INSTRUCTOR 



POSSIBLE METHODS FOR DIFFERENT STEPS IN THE 

INSTRUCTING PROCESS BY THE LINES OF 

APPROACH 





Development. 


Informational. 


Step 1. 
Preparation. 
Foundation. 


The suggestive 
question. 
Demonstration. 
Illustration. 
Experience. 


The informational 
question. 
Demonstration. 
Illustration. 
Experience. 


Step 2. 
Presentation. 
Putting over. 


Demonstration. 
Illustration. 
Experiment. 


Demonstration. 
Illustration. 
Lecture. 


Step 3. 
Application. 
Checking up. 


On the job. 
Discussion. 
Recitation. 
Written Test. 
Examination. 


On the job. 
Recitation. 
Written Test. 
Examination. 


Step 4. 
Inspection. 
Final Test. 


On the job. 
Recitation. 
Examination. 


On the job. 
Recitation. 
Examination. 



Method of Carrying Out this Step by the Use of Questions. 
A common method of carrying out this step is by the use of 
questions. Those questions may be so framed that the 
learner in answering them, is led to think of whatever ideas 
the instructor intends to use in this step. Such questions 
may be called suggestive questions. When suggestive ques- 
tions are used they are based upon what is known as " sugges- 
tion" that is, if individual A says something, individual B 
will think something. If A is skillful in what he says he can 
make B (so long as B is unconscious as to what is going on) 
think of what A wishes him to think. For example, if A says 
"I just saw a cow,'* if B has ever seen a cow a picture of a 



METHODS FOR FIRST STEP OF THE LESSON 149 

cow will flash up in B's mind. The part of the sentence which 
made B see a cow in his mind was the one word "cow," so 
that we may say that the key idea in this case is "cow." In 
instructing, the stimulating sentence is usually put into a 
question. Instead of saying "I saw a cow" the instructor 
might say, "Can you tell a cow from a horse?" or "Can you 
milk a cow?" because when put in the form of a question it 
makes a sharper appeal; but in either case the "key idea" 
which gets the learner's mind to work is "cow." The rest of 
the sentence is really an excuse for bringing in the key idea. 

Another kind of question does not depend on suggestion 
but on memory. If a person is asked to tell something that 
he already knows, as a result of trying to remember, that 
something will be brought up in his mind. An instructor, pre- 
liminary to presenting a teaching unit on the use of a cross- 
cut saw to a learner who knew how to use a rip saw, might 
ask the learner to tell what he knew about a rip saw. There 
would be no suggestion, the learner would simply be asked for 
some information that the instructor knew he possessed. 
Where the lesson to be taught is an extension of what the 
learner already knows, the instructor may ask what was 
taught in the preceding lesson. The effort required to re- 
member this brings it back fresh to the learner's mind. To 
distinguish them from suggestive questions we may call this 
sort of questions informational questions. 

Of course questions may be asked in connection with an 
illustration or demonstration as described below and may take 
either form. 

When the method of questioning can be used it is the 
quickest and most effective way of putting over step 1. If 
there is nothing that can be suggested to the learner or he has 
no information that will serve to refresh his memory, that 
will give the ideas on which the instructor wishes to base this 
step then other methods must be used. These are, an illus- 
tration or a demonstration that will give the learner some- 
thing to start on, or to let him run up against some sort of a 
problem or experience that will have the same effect. 

The Suggestive Illustration or Demonstration. When the 
learner has absolutely nothing that the instructor can use for 



150 THE INSTRUCTOR 

the teaching base it is sometimes necessary to develop the 
teaching base by using some form of demonstration or illus- 
tration, as where the instructor does some piece of work, 
performs some experiment, shows some model or uses pictures, 
charts, or diagrams. For example, suppose it were desired 
to put over a lesson on how to rig a boat to a learner who had 
never seen or heard of a boat, or anything like a boat. There 
would be absolutely nothing to "tie" to. Such cases are very 
rare, but, assuming that this was such a case, the instructor 
might find it necessary to show the learner a real boat, or a 
model or picture of a boat in order to get a start. In teaching 
geography in schools photographs or lantern slides are some- 
times used when the lesson deals with something the class 
has never seen, as the action of ice on a mountain when 
taught to children who have never even seen a hill, or have 
never seen ice, as in some parts of the tropics. 

The Suggestive Experience. A teaching base can, in some 
cases, be established by having the learners do something 
giving them a certain experience which the instructor considers 
will make them think about the things that he wishes to use 
for his teaching base. For example, suppose, in a training 
camp it was desired to instruct recruits in the proper way of 
holding a rifle to the shoulder so as to minimize the kick. 
Assume that the learner had never fired a gun, and had ab- 
solutely no notion of kick. The instructor might give him a 
suggestive experience by letting him fire a rifle as a green man 
would, get a sore shoulder by doing it that way and so lead up 
to a lesson on how to fire a rifle and not get a sore shoulder. 
A visit to a place where the complete job could be observed as 
carried out in practice might be used in this way in certain cases. 

Summary. Where there is anything to go on step 1 can 
be best carried out by the use of questions. This might be 
called the "standard method." It is the quickest and the 
easiest to use whenever its use is possible. 

Where questions cannot be used one of the other methods 
must be. Where it can be used the suggestive experience is 
the better of the two alternate methods. Illustration is the 
poorest method of all. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

METHODS THAT CAN BE USED IN THE SECOND STEP 
OF THE LESSON 

Preliminary. As in the case of step 1 there are several 
methods that may be used. Those suitable for job training 
are four in number. 

Various Methods of Presentation. There are four common 
methods or teaching tools, used in presentation. These are: 

(1) The method of demonstration, (2) The method of 
illustration, and (3) The lecture method. (4) The experi- 
mental method. 

The Demonstration Method. This method consists essen- 
tially either in showing the man how to do the thing or what 
the thing is with the actual tools, machines, or conditions 
under which the problem is to be worked out or the job is to 
be done. Thus, for example, an instructor in printing may 
operate the press in instructing a man in starting and stopping 
it. He may use it on an actual job in instructing a green man 
in the proper way of doing the job. In instructing in assembly 
jobs he may use the bolts, wrenches, etc., on a real piece of 
work. In teaching how to lay out a printing job, he may lay 
out an actual job that is to be printed. 

Provided a real job is done the demonstration can be carried 
out either by the learner or by the instructor. When the 
learner does the job under the supervision and direction of the 
instructor, he is the demonstrator. He is demonstrating to 
himself. This is as true when he follows directions on paper. 

The point of the demonstration method is that whether 
the instructor does it, or the learner does it under direction of 
the instructor, the presentation is carried out with the same 
tools, machines, etc., as would be used on the actual job. In 
this method no substitutes are used for the real thing. 

Ul 



152 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Where the Demonstration Method Can be Used to the Best 
Advantage. While the demonstration method should always 
be used wherever possible, it can be used to the best advantage 
under the following conditions: 

(a) On the job with group instruction in the shop or 
the yard. 

(b) On the job with individual instruction in the 
shop or in the yard. 

(c) Off the job, when the necessary demonstration ma- 
terial can be secured from the shop or elsewhere. 

Where Some Other Method Can be Substituted with the 
I/east Disadvantage. Where the demonstration method can- 
not be used, other less effective methods can be substituted. 
For example: In teaching advanced men, where demonstra- 
tion materials are not obtainable. The more experienced the 
man in a particular line of work the less likely is the demon- 
stration method to be the only one that can be used with a 
reasonable degree of effectiveness. Under the above special 
conditions the method of illustration can be used with a 
reasonable degree of efficiency and a considerable saving of 
time; a very important factor in shop training. 

In balancing up the relative values of different methods for a 
given teaching job, when it is very difficult to use the demon- 
stration method the method of illustration can often be used 
with advanced men. Under such conditions a good illustra- 
tion may be better than a poor demonstration. 

The Method of Illustration. This method of presentation 
consists essentially in putting up to the men not the actual 
things with which the instruction deals, but things which 
resemble them sufficiently to serve the purpose. Examples 
of the method of illustration would be: 

(1) In teaching the parts of a steam engine, whereas by 
the demonstration method it would be necessary either to take 
the learners into an engine room or to have in the classroom 
an actual steam engine, by the illustration method there might 
be used a wooden model with sections cut away to show the 
construction. As a matter of fact, if men had already run an 



METHODS FOR SECOND STEP OF THE LESSON 153 

actual engine, this method would probably serve the purposes 
of this problem better, since the internal construction and the 
relative operations of parts could be shown in a cross section 
model where they could not be shown with the engine in 
operation. The method of illustration can be carried out by 
means of models, pictures, diagrams, sketches, and in short, 
by a large number of devices which are available in teaching 
practice and a number of which are discussed elsewhere. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Method of Illus- 
tration. This method evidently is inefficient in that it sub- 
stitutes, for the real thing, something which more or less 
approximates the real thing, and hence requires a certain 
amount of mental picturing on the part of the learner, or as 
it is sometimes called, a "carry-over" from the model or the 
diagram or the picture to the thing itself; that is, the men, while 
seeing the illustrative material, models, pictures, sketches, 
etc., must think of the actual thing. Green or only slightly 
trained learners can rarely do this. In proportion as men have 
come in contact with the real thing, and possess considerable 
trade experience, they can look at the illustration and think 
the real thing itself. Hence the method of illustration should 
not be attempted with learners who have had no experience 
with the actual thing which is being illustrated. Thus, for 
example, many instructors fail in the method of illustration, 
especially in using blackboard diagrams, because the men have 
not had sufficient contact with the actual thing which the 
diagrams represent, so that while looking at the diagrams they 
do not see the thing itself. The method of illustration on the 
whole, therefore, is not well suited for the more elementary 
courses of training in any lines of shop or mechanical work. 

On the other hand, this method has the advantage of enabl- 
ing the instructor to control the conditions under which the 
lesson is given. He can bring a group together in a room, can 
free them from distractions and can keep their attention fixed 
upon the matter in hand. The degree to which the method 
of illustration can be used efficiently would depend largely 
on the character of the problem, the degree of experience of 
the men under instruction, and on the judgment of the teacher 
based upon experience. 



154 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Where the Method of Illustration Can be Used to Best 
Advantage. If the things to be illustrated are simple and 
require little "carry-over," the method will be successful. 
In proportion as the things to be illustrated are complex and 
require much "carry-over," it will not be successful. In pro- 
portion as the men have a large amount of actual experience 
behind them, this method can be made successful. In propor- 
tion as they have not, it will be unsuccessful. For illustration, 
in steam engineering it is proposed to teach the idea of the 
cut-off, and it is desired to use a method of illustration which 
is based upon the use of blackboard diagrams. This could 
probably be successfully worked out in a course for firemen or 
engineers who had behind them considerable experience in the 
engine room. It would not succeed at all with a class of boys 
who had never seen an engine and did not know what the 
cut-off was. If for the diagram was substituted a small steam 
engine with sections cut out of the sides of the cylinder and 
steam chest, this work might be successfully done with a class 
of boys who had a sufficient experience in the engine room to 
know the general operation of the slide valve and the fact that 
the eccentric controlled the cut-off. In the same way, suppose 
it were desired to illustrate the method of drawing an object 
by projection and the point was to give the man the notion of 
the three points of view. If the illustration used was that of a 
rather elaborate drawing and the man had had no experience 
in reading such drawings, this method would probably fail. 
If it were desired to introduce him to this idea by the method 
of demonstration, the instructor would be much more likely 
to succeed if he started in with a brick and got the man by 
squinting around it to see what it looked like on end, side on, 
and from above. 

Dangers of the Method of Illustration. The great danger 
in the use of this method lies in the fact that it is easier for the 
instructor than the demonstration method, and a lazy instruc- 
tor continually tends to use it when, with a little more energy 
and ingenuity he could use the method of demonstration. 

The use unquestionably saves time and energy in many 
cases where it will ivork, and the only ground for using it is 
that the instructor knows that it will work for the particular 



METHODS FOR SECOND STEP OF THE LESSON 155 

men he is instructing on a particular instruction unit, or that 
the demonstration method is, under the conditions, impossible, 
and so a choice of a less effective method must be made. 

The Lecture Method. This method of presentation con- 
sists essentially in simply passing out the information required. 
Under a strict informational or lecture method of presentation, 
no attempt is made to illustrate or to demonstrate. The 
instructor simply tells the men what he wants them to know, 
and this method is often the method of the college or the 
technical school. It is based upon the theory that the lecturer 
knows something which the students do not know and that 
the students are capable of securing the information or learn- 
ing how to do the thing by simply listening to the lecturer. 

Where the Lecture Method Can be Used to Advantage. 
The lecture method can be used to advantage only in the case 
of very advanced students who have themselves so much 
knowledge of the subject that they can easily follow and 
understand the lecturer. It has little place in shop train- 
ing work. Thus for example, a corporation lawyer might 
lecture on corporation law to a group of lawyers or to advanced 
students in a law school; a specialist in medicine might lecture 
on his specialty to the members of a medical society; but even 
at best the lecture method is inefficient, and as a matter of 
fact, for all ordinary shop training it may be regarded as the 
last resort of a poor instructor. 

Where the Lecture Method Might be Used to Advantage. 
Outside of the regular work of instruction in the training 
scheme there is always a field for the development of general 
interest, and the lecture method can be used for that purpose. 
Thus, a lecture by an instructor on his past shop experience, 
how he got his different jobs, and what sort of work was done 
in the different shops in which he worked, while it would have 
no value as an instruction proposition, would undoubtedly, 
have value in arousing general interest on the part of the 
group of men that he had under instruction. In the same way, 
a lecture on various methods of doing a particular job in the 
shop would undoubtedly arouse interest and might be of 
value. It should be clearly understood, however, that a 



156 THE INSTRUCTOR 

lecture given for this purpose is not a part of the regular train- 
ing work as discussed here, and the men should not be held re- 
sponsible for any direct " come back " on work of this character. 
Thus the ordinary practice of giving a lecture under the im- 
pression that it is a teaching lesson, requiring the men to keep 
notes, to write up these notes, and subsequently examining 
them, is a relic of barbarism from the standpoint of efficient 
teaching and should not be used in industrial training. 

On the other hand, the bringing together of men from time to 
time for a lecture whose purpose is to stimulate general interest, 
but from which no direct and specific " come back " is either ex- 
pected or required, undoubtedly finds its place in training in- 
struction of any grade, from the elementary school to the college. 

The Experimental Method. In the three methods already 
discussed the work of presentation is, in a way, directed by the 
instructor. He at least exercises a general control over the 
carrying out of this step. The instruction unit, as presented, 
is correct. However it might be worked up, if the instruction 
unit were on the method of doing any given job the presenta- 
tion would embody the correct method. 

It is, of course, possible to lead up to the problem and then 
turn the learner loose to discover correct practice by the 
method of doing it wrong until he discovers how to do it right. 
That is, he may learn by experimentation. Most boys in a 
seaport learn to swim and to sail a boat in this way. They 
get pushed off the end of the dock; they go out in small sail- 
boats and capsize until they have learned to keep a boat right 
side up. They learn by the method of experiment. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Experimental Method. 
Evidently a learner taught by this method is never likely 
to forget what he learned, and this is the chief value. On 
the other hand much time is consumed, the learner is liable 
to become discouraged and is likely to spoil much material. 

Under the conditions which exist in shop training it is not 
probable that this method would find much place. In the 
case of a particularly intelligent man on advanced work it 
might be desirable to let him "dope it out,'* but such cases 
would be relatively rare. 



METHODS FOR SECOND STEP OF THE LESSON 157 

Since this method is a possible one and finds a use in certain 
schools, it has seemed advisable to include it in the list of 
possible methods for step 2 in the instructing process. 

Summary. Step 2, or presentation, is the part of the lesson 
in which the addition is made to what the man knows. Where 
the new stuff is put over. It is in this step that the instruction, 
as such, is given. 

The instructor has as tools four methods at his command 
Demonstration, Illustration, Lecture, and Experiment. He 
chooses his method with regard to the requirements of the 
particular teaching job that he proposes to carry out. Under 
emergency training conditions the most effective method is 
in most cases, demonstration, with illustration as a second 
choice, and when demonstration is difficult or impossible. 
The more advanced the men the more likely the possibility of 
effectively using illustration in place of demonstration. The 
other two methods probably have little or no value in work of 
this character. 



CHAPTER XXV 

METHODS THAT CAN BE USED IN THE THIRD STEP 
OF THE LESSON 

Preliminary. This step of the lesson is, as described in the 
preceding part, a means of finding where the learner has not 
fully grasped the work of step 2 or has still to apply what he 
got in that step. The choice of a suitable method for this step 
is particularly important since so much depends on being sure 
that all the weak spots have been located and fixed up. 

Methods for Carrying Out the Application. Four methods 
are available: (1) Direct application or trying out on the job. 
(2) The recitation. (3) The discussion. (4) The written 
examination. As in the other steps the choice of method is 
determined by the character of the teaching unit and the sort 
of learner to whom it has been presented. 

Application on the Job. The most efficient method of de- 
termining the degree to which a teaching unit has been effec- 
tively "put over" in step 2, is to put the man who has been 
instructed up against the actual job which he is supposed to 
have been taught to successfully perform. 

This method can be used on any job and is always the first 
choice of the instructor. 

It is generally recognized as giving the most satisfactory 
results under modern teaching conditions and since it permits 
of checking up the power to do and to apply rather than the 
power to talk about how to do, or how to apply (and many 
men can do a good job who cannot tell how they do it), it is 
preeminently the method by which the application step should 
be carried out in industrial training. 

Why Application on the Job is the Most Effective Method. 
The efficiency of a man in a working plant depends upon 
what he can do. If the instructor gives him a chance to show 
what he can do he has the most direct check on the complete- 

158 



METHODS FOR THIRD STEP OP THE LESSON 159 

ness with which he has put the lesson over. The other methods 
described substitute talking about the job for doing the job. 
They are described here because it is sometimes necessary to use 
one of them in place of the more desirable methods, and also be- 
cause many individual instructors tend to use them altogether 
too much, largely because they were the methods by which they 
themselves were taught in school or because they are easier. 

The Recitation. When using this method the instructor 
asks a series of questions for the purpose of ascertaining how 
thoroughly the learner has "got" the lesson, and for uncover- 
ing weak points. In proportion as the learner answers all 
questions correctly the instructor assumes that he can do the 
job. If he fails to answer some questions correctly this is 
assumed to show where the weak points are. 

The difficulty with this method in connection with practical 
instruction lies in the fact that the man must go through the 
various operations in his mind and describe them, in order to 
answer questions correctly. Many men who can do the job 
all right cannot carry it through in their minds when away 
from the job, and even if they can do this, the necessity of 
putting what they see in their minds into words adds an addi- 
tional complication. The result of this is that a glib talker who 
has the sort of mind which can form a picture of the job in 
operation, but who cannot do it well often show up better in a 
recitation than a man who does know how to do the job but 
lacks ready speech and imagination. 

This misleads the instructor who confuses inability to ex- 
press with inability to do. Hence in any practical work this 
method is somewhat dangerous especially in the hands of in- 
experienced instructors. 

It is chiefly of value where what has been taught is purely 
informational in character and hence finds a large place in the 
work of regular schools. Since the purely informational side 
of industrial training work is comparatively small, the recita- 
tion can only be effectively used in a few cases. 

It is also a fact that the recitation is much easier for the 
teacher than the method of putting the man on the job, and 
hence a lazy instructor tends to use it, of course thereby doing 
a poor instructing job. 



160 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The Instructor's Job and the Learner's Job. It should be 
noted that whereas the statements made above apply to the 
case of a learner the case is entirely different with an instructor, 
who must be able to see the job without actually doing it, 
must be able to analyze and must be able to talk clearly about 
the work, in order to carry on the instruction process. 

The Discussion. In the recitation the instructor asks 
questions and the learner answers the questions. The relation 
at any given time is always between the instructor and one 
man. It is quite possible however to set up a discussion where- 
in various members of the group ask questions, both, of other 
group members and of the instructor. By watching and some- 
times guiding such a discussion the instructor can often check 
up the degree to which the men have been thoroughly in- 
structed, so that the discussion may, in certain cases, become a 
method for carrying out the Application Step. It is possible 
to use the discussion when working with one man but, under 
these conditions, it is obviously less effective than when work- 
ing with a group of men who are being simultaneously in- 
structed in the same teaching unit. 

Conditions under which the Discussions may Best be Used. 
The discussion, considered as a method for checking up, is 
most likely to be of value when the instructor is dealing with a 
group of advanced men, or men with considerable experience 
behind them. It is not likely to be of much value when work- 
ing with men of little experience, nor is it likely to be of much 
value in individual instruction. 

The Written Recitation or Test. It is quite possible to 
substitute written answers to questions for spoken answers. 
This modification of the ordinary spoken or oral recitation is 
sometimes called a written recitation. As compared with the 
oral recitation the written recitation has the advantage that 
questions can be more carefully answered. than in group in- 
struction; one man cannot take his cue from another; and 
answers can be more carefully examined and criticized by the 
instructor. It has the disadvantage of taking much more 
time for the answering of a given number of questions. All 
members cannot hear the answer of any one man and cannot 



METHODS FOR THIRD STEP OF THE LESSON 161 

get the benefit of the instructor's criticism on each man's 
answer. 

It is also true that many men find even greater difficulty in 
expressing themselves in writing than in expressing themselves 
orally so that all the objections which apply to the spoken 
recitation apply even more strongly to the written recitation. 

The Examination. An examination may be either oral or 
written. It differs from the recitation mainly in that it uses 
what may be called the method of sampling. An illustration 
of the theory on which examinations are conducted would be 
the method of taking a sample of wheat out of a car which was 
loaded with wheat, taking this sample at random from any 
part of the car, grading it, and then assuming that all the 
wheat in the car was of the same grade as the sample taken. 
Whereas in the recitation the questions would be "bunched," 
that is, the instructor would attempt to hit all parts of the 
teaching unit, in .an examination the questions are scattered. 
It is like the difference between the rifle and the shot gun. 
Certain questions are asked at random and it is assumed that, 
if the learner answers these "sample" questions correctly he 
could answer any others correctly, and so has "got" the 
teaching unit. 

The Value of the Examination as a Method in the Applica- 
tion Step. Evidently the examination is of little value as a 
method for checking up and for assuring the instructor that 
the man has got the lesson. The method of sampling must 
leave large gaps in the checking up process and fail entirely to 
bring out the points on which the learner needs straightening 
out. It also has all the undesirable features of the recitation as 
outlined under that heading. As a method to be used in the 
application step in industrial training it has practically no 
value and is only given here because its use in regular schools 
is so common that industrial instructors are liable to think 
that it can be used effectively in this sort of work. 

How to Know when Step 3 is Completed. In this the in- 
structor must depend upon his judgment and experience. 
No set rule can be given. Whatever the method used, the 
operation is continued until the instructor is satisfied that the 



162 THE INSTRUCTOR 

teaching unit has been completely put over. Wherever he 
finds a weak spot the instructor goes over that part of the 
preceding step which covers that particular part of the teaching 
unit, in this way filling up the gaps. Sometimes he has to 
change his method because it is evident that the particular 
method used for step 2 has failed to work with a given man. 
However that may be, he finally comes to a point where he is 
willing to take a chance that the man has "got" the thing 
that was to be taught. 

This step may be compared to trying out an assembled 
machine, where the machine is run under careful observation. 
Any imperfections are noted, and faulty parts replaced until 
the adjuster is ready to O. K. it, that is, he is ready to take a 
chance on its being right. Instructors are very liable to be in 
too much of a hurry in carrying out this step and to let a man 
go onto the final step, or test, before he is ready for it. The 
adjuster who lets imperfect machines go out of his department 
has done a poor job and the same may be said of the instructor 
who lets the learner out of this stage, before he is ready. 

Summary. The third instruction step or application is the 
part of the instructional process wherein the effectiveness of 
the work done in step 2 is checked up and defects located and 
corrected. Of the four possible methods, application on the 
job is the most effective in industrial work. The recitation 
or discussion is the second choice; and the examination is of 
practically no value. The instructor must learn to use his 
judgment as to when this step is completed. He is likely to 
err on the side of not doing enough. The more experience and 
good judgment he has the more likely he is to do a good job 
in this stage of the instructional process. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

METHODS FOR CARRYING OUT STEP FOUR IN THE 

LESSON 

Preliminary. This step is where the instructor puts on the 
final test. Where the work of the three preceding steps " comes 
out in the wash." Hence it is very important that the best 
methods should be used in each case. 

Methods for Carrying Out this Step. Since step 4 like 
step 3, is an inspection and differs from step 3, only in that 
during this step the instructor gives the learner no assistance 
at all, the same methods can be used as in step 3, and the 
same suggestions as. to relative desirability would apply. It 
is, of course, possible to use a different method in this step 
than was used in step 3. This is a matter that must be deter- 
mined by the judgment of the instructor. 

The Value of Testing Work. It should always be borne 
in mind that the object of the final test is to enable the in- 
structor to determine how well he has succeeded in imparting 
the thing he set out to teach. The simple fact that a man has 
failed to do a piece of work successfully is in itself of value only 
so far as the test is conducted under such conditions that the 
teacher can determine why he failed. Failure may be due to 
four causes: a poor learner, a poor instructor, poor teaching 
conditions, or a poorly conducted lesson; and it is up to the 
instructor to find out which of these four causes or any com- 
bination of them may be the cause for failure. This is the 
only way in which he can gain experience which will increase 
his teaching ability. 

Most failures in the instructional process are due to the 
fact that the instructor was not "on to his job." When an 
instructor states that a learner cannot be taught it is "up to 
him" to prove that he was "on to his job" before his state- 
ment can be accepted as final. 

163 



164 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Where the results of the test show that the lesson has been 
a failure, the first thing for the instructor to do is to consider 
why. 

So far as the poor teacher is concerned, this simply means 
that he does not know his job as an instructor. So far as a 
poor learner is concerned, investigation may show that he is 
incapable of getting that particular lesson at that particular 
time or possibly of ever getting it at all. So far as poor teach- 
ing conditions are concerned, such a state of affairs is due to 
poor management on the part of the instructor. So far as a 
poorly conducted lesson is concerned, that of course is due to 
poor selection of method, poor handling, or some other failure 
in the actual process of "putting it over." In such cases the 
instructor will probably find that the difficulty is due to one or 
more of the errors which are listed below, in the order in which 
they are likely to occur in the work of an inexperienced teacher : 

(1) Teaching too much. (Too large a teaching unit.) 

(2) Adopting an unsuitable method. 

(3) Failing to complete each step before starting on the 

next. 

(4) Failing to include all steps in the lesson. 

(5) Failing to distinguish step 1 from step 2, and step 3 

from step 4. 
(C) Failing to take sufficient time to teach the lesson. 

(7) Lack of patience and tact in teaching the lesson. 

(8) Undertaking to teach the lesson under unsuitable teach- 

ing conditions. 

When fche instructor has failed to put over the lesson, he 
has got to find out why he failed and then replan his lesson 
and teach it so that he will not fail the second time. The more 
care an instructor uses in planning his lesson, and the more 
skill he uses in putting it over, the less likely is he to get into 
this situation. 



CHAPTER XXVII 

THE INFORMATIONAL AND THE DEVELOPMENT 
LINES OF APPROACH 

Two Lines of Approach. Whatever may be the nature of 
the teaching unit and whatever methods may have to be 
used in carrying out the various steps in the instructing process 
there still remains to be considered what may be called the 
instructor's " policy " or line of approach in handling the les- 
son as a whole. There are two such general lines available 
which may be designated as the informational line and the 
development line, or the informational approach and the devel- 
opment approach. 

The Informational Line of Approach. In using this line of 
approach the whole instructing operation is conducted on the 
basis of the instructor's giving information to the learner or 
the learner giving information to the instructor. When the 
instructor asks questions they are of a kind that calls for in- 
formation from the learner. When an instructor handles a 
lesson in this way the chief faculty exercised by the learner is 
memory. 

The entire lesson or any one step in the lesson can be handled 
in this way according to the judgment of the instructor. An 
illustration of the presentation step in a lesson handled by this 
method would be where the instructor gave the rule and re- 
quired the learner to work from it. 

The Development Line of Approach. In handling a lesson 
by this line of approach the instructor makes the learner think 
out the proper procedure. He leads the learner to think out 
the problem and the method of solution, guides the thinking 
and aids the learner when he is "stuck" by suggestions, and 
stimulating questions. He is all the time aiming at making 
the man do the thinking. Under this method questions asked 
by the instructor are so framed that the learner must think 

165 



166 THE INSTRUCTOR 

in answering. A series of questions may be asked which leads 
the man to think through to a correct method of solving a 
problem or a correct method of procedure. 

The Development Approach Good Instruction. The object 
of the development line of approach is to train the man to 
think intelligently about his job. Its object is to start with 
what he knows and to lead him by successive steps to reason 
or think through to the desired results. This is essentially a 
training process, and for the purposes of many sorts of indus- 
trial training it is as important to train the learner to think 
for himself and use his own ideas, that he should know why as 
well as how, as it is to train him in proper methods in the doing 
of the job itself. Every time a lesson is handled by the de- 
velopment line of approach, something has been added to the 
learner's capacity to attack new problems intelligently, to 
"think on his job." The result of a course of instruction in 
which the development approach has been used wherever 
possible will turn out a man with ability to tackle a new prob- 
lem and to think it through correctly. The power to do this is, 
of course, generally recognized as a very desirable quality in 
many industrial lines, hence the use of this method of approach 
in industrial training has great value in much of the instruc- 
tion work in all trades. It is therefore, in general, the first 
choice of an instructor, and should be used by preference, 
unless it is evident that the other approach is clearly the most 
effective for instructing in the particular teaching unit under 
consideration. 

The Use of the Informational Approach. The informational 
approach is chiefly valuable where the teaching unit deals 
with simple operations in which there is only one way to do it 
and where but little trade intelligence is required. This might 
be true, for example, in teaching a man how to start an electric 
motor. It is more likely to be of service with advanced than 
with green men, and in instructing in simple shop operations 
rather than in technical problems, or complicated jobs. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Two Lines. A 
good example of the informational approach will be found in 
the ordinary engineer's handbook. This book is prepared for 



LINES OF APPROACH 167 

a man who has a considerable experience in the practice of his 
trade, and whose aim is to get results as rapidly as possible. 
Usually he is not concerned with the "why" as much as with 
the result which is required. Often he is not equipped to 
reason out the rule or the formula for himself, yet he wants the 
result in his business. Under these circumstances the approach 
usually followed in these handbooks lends itself well to the 
needs of the men for whose use they are prepared; it is not, 
however, intended to give training in thinking out the problem. 
A man instructed by this line of approach would gain but little 
in power to work out the correct rule for a new problem; if it 
was not in the handbook he would be stuck. 

On the other hand, a person trained by the second, or de- 
velopment approach, would be able to tackle a new problem 
and work out the rule for himself. 

It is therefore evident that for training the man to reason 
and think in connection with his work the development ap- 
proach is the better; for rapid results, the informational 
approach is preferable. 

Choice of the Two Lines of Approach. Evidently each 
lesson will put the instructor up against the problem of deter- 
mining which of the two possible lines of approach he will use. 
In making his decision he would be guided, as suggested above, 
by the sort of unit that he had to teach: by the sort of man he 
was going to teach it to. Judgment based on experience is the 
only guide in this case. It might be pointed out, however, that 
it is often possible to use the development approach on a 
lesson where all things considered, it will not "pay" to use it. 
It may take too much time with respect to the "yield" of 
intelligence gotten out of it in that particular case, or it may 
result in distracting the mind of the man from the require- 
ments of the actual job. An instructor must take all these 
points into consideration in determining the line of approach 
which he will use in any given case. 

Line of Approach as Distinguished from Methods. A dis- 
tinction must be clearly drawn between the two lines of 
approach as discussed in the preceding paragraphs and 
methods of instruction. As already stated, the former refers 



168 THE INSTRUCTOR 

to what has been called the policy of the Instructor in 
handling the lesson or any step in the lesson. The latter 
refers to the particular devices which may be used under 
either line of approach in the carrying out of the in- 
structional process. 

It is, of course, possible to use different lines of approach for 
different steps in a lesson, but such practice is extremely un- 
wise and dangerous. It requires a going back and a patching 
up of the continuity of the instruction process, it tends to 
confuse the learner, it is liable to break up the conciseness. 
Where the situation changes radically and unexpectedly during 
the progress of the lesson a very experienced instructor may 
save the situation by changing his line of approach. It is 
better for the inexperienced instructor not to attempt to save 
the situation, but to begin all over again with a line of ap- 
proach which will be effective under the new conditions. 



CHAPTER XXVIH 

THE TECHNICAL LESSON AND THE PRODUCTION 

LESSON 

Preliminary. While the general steps which have been 
given in the section on the instructional process would be 
followed in putting through any lesson, a number of the details, 
especially as to selection of suitable methods for the various 
steps, line of approach, and determination of the best teaching 
conditions, would vary with the kind of the teaching unit, 
especially as to whether the subject of the lesson (the teach- 
ing unit) should be classed as a trade technical or a pro- 
duction unit. The following paragraphs discuss the general 
effect of the kind of the teaching unit on the planning of the 
lesson. 

Explanation of Terms. The term job as used in these 
notes means anything that a man is paid to do, whether it 
does or does not result in the actual working up of stock. If 
it does result in the working up of stock we will call it a pro- 
duction job; if it does not result in the working up of 
stock but is a necessary step in the getting out of the 
product, we will call it a technical job. That is, a tech- 
nical job calls for the possession and the use of technical 
knowledge. It does contribute to the turning out of the 
job, for example, laying off the sweep or template pre- 
liminary to bending a frame is a technical job, but the 
actual bending of the frame is a production job, because 
in this latter case the result of the job is a properly bent 
frame. Knowing how to place a properly heated rivet the 
right way in the right feole is a technical job, but driving the 
rivet is a production job. Reading a blueprint is a technical 
job, but making the article as shown on the blueprint is a 
production job. 

199 



170 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Characteristics of the Trade Technical Job. In general this 
sort of a job presents these characteristics: 

(1) It is not a direct production job. 

(2) It requires the exercise of trade intelligence and 

judgment. 

(3) It contributes to the getting out of production, al- 

though it is not a production job. 

(4) It need not be done where the production job to which 

it contributes is done. 

The Technical Job Makes no Demand for Product as a 
Direct Result. In getting out a piece of work there are 
usually a number of "jobs" which have to be done but which 
do not require the direct working up of stock. For instance, a 
blueprint must be read, or a pattern maker must make a lay- 
out, or a printer makes up a dummy. 

The Technical Job Calls for Trade Intelligence and Judg- 
ment. The majority of technical jobs call for the exercise of 
intelligence and judgment. Often there is more than one way 
of doing the job and the best method must be selected. The 
particular method followed must often be worked out in a 
special way to meet the requirements of the special production 
job to which it contributes. Sometimes the workman must 
use specially trained judgment. In few cases are technical 
jobs carried out in a purely automatic way. 

The Technical Job Need not be Done where the Production 
Job is Done. Since the technical job does not deal with the 
material itself, it can be carried on anywhere, or in some special 
place provided for the purpose. It need not even be carried 
on inside the plant. In many plants special rooms are provided 
for this class of jobs, such as in the case of mold loft work, in 
a shipyard or where the foreman takes the blueprint into his 
office and there reads it and marks out cutting slips. 

The Trade Technical Lesson. This class of lesson deals with 
ideas instead of material. As a rule the learner must work 
with his head rather than with his hands. He must be able to 
carry through a series of mental operations or "thinks." He 
often has to work with signs that stand for things or ideas 



THE TECHNICAL LESSON AND PRODUCTION LESSON 171 

included in the lesson. Such as Str. for straight, Dr. for drill, Z 
for Z bar, 1 for I beam. He must often use a certain amount 
of mathematics. He must often express himself in trade 
terms. He must often be able to read a drawing. 

The Teaching Unit is Determined by Trade Practice. 
Trade practice has usually established the easiest and most 
rapid methods of solving such trade technical problems as 
come up in the direct connection with production. These 
methods have been developed by the trade with regard to shop 
conditions, the saving of time, and often with no more regard 
for accuracy than is necessary for the purpose in hand. 

The sheer or body plan is laid out according to the special 
methods which have been adopted in the ship building trade 
and might be unintelligible to a machine shop draftsman. 
Template marks can only be interpreted by a man who knows 
ship work. 

With what Degree of Accuracy should Trade Technical 
Problems be Worked Out. A man should be taught to work 
out a trade technical problem only to the degree of accuracy 
which would be called for in the trade. Thus, for example, a 
man laying out a patch plate will not work to the same degree 
of accuracy as a machinist who is laying out a drill jig. The 
efficient instructor will waste no time or energy in training a 
learner to a higher degree of accuracy than is required by the 
trade. 

Lines of Approach for the Technical Lesson. As already 
pointed out the technical lesson deals with ideas and signs 
which stand for things (symbols) rather than with tools, 
stock, and operations. It calls for thinking. Hence in general 
the development line of approach is the proper one to use. 

Selection of Methods for the Technical Lesson. Many 
lessons of this type require very careful selection of method 
since they deal so much with ideas or symbols rather than with 
things. The preparatory step often requires more careful 
working out than in a lesson on a production job. Probably 
many more technical lessons are spoiled by careless preparatory 
work than are lessons in production work. Great care must 
be taken to avoid "skimping" the preparatory step, and the 



172 THE INSTRUCTOR 

instructor must be sure that the object of this step has been 
attained before he proceeds further with the lesson. 

In planning step 2, it may be said in general that a greater 
use may be made of the method of illustration than in instruct- 
ing in production jobs. In some cases the demonstration 
method cannot be used under the conditions under which the 
instruction is carried on, especially where the instruction is 
given outside of the shop. For example, the problem of laying 
out a display form, in printing, might be worked out by 
diagrams on a blackboard, or on paper. The same might be 
true in instructing in the method of figuring the horsepower 
from the indicator card. 

The discussion can also be used to more advantage than in 
instructing on production work, and even the lecture method 
may in a few cases find a place in instructing in this class of 
teaching units, as in a lessen in a system for template marking. 

In steps 3 and 4 it is also true that the recitation can some- 
times be used in place of putting the learner in the job. Of 
course, this method is always a second choice, but sometimes 
it is the only method available under the instruction conditions. 

As in other cases judgment and experience will aid the in- 
structor in selecting the best method for "putting over" this 
type of teaching unit. 

The Lesson in Production Work. Preliminary. The pre- 
ceding paragraphs have discussed the question of teaching of 
trade technical problems. The lesson on a production job, 
while the general principles of good teaching will apply, offers 
very distinct characteristics as compared to the lesson on trade 
technical work as already discussed. Among the most im- 
portant of these are (1) the aim of the instruction is always to 
train the men to correctly perform an operation or do a job; 
(2) the problem is always a specific one, and deals with a 
definite product; (3) it calls for mechanical intelligence and 
judgment in the use of tools or the operations of machines; 
(4) it calls for a sufficient amount of skill to do the job up to 
the required standard. 

Characteristics of the Lesson in Shop Work. In general, 
therefore, a lesson of this class presents these characteristics : 



THE TECHNICAL LESSON AND PRODUCTION LESSON 173 

(1) As a result of the lesson, however it may be given, the 
learner will have learned how to do some sort of a production 
job, or how to perform some operation, resulting in the pro- 
duction of a real product which can be handled. 

(2) The doing of this job will call for the use of ma- 
chines or tools in a workmanlike manner, according to trade 
methods. 

(3) It calls for the intelligent use of such machines and 
tools as are necessary. 

The result is something that can be seen and handled. As a 
result of the work of the instructor in instructing and of the 
learner in doing, some piece of work is completed, or some 
operation is correctly performed. 

The Production Job. As distinguished from the trade 
technical job, the production job is always worked out with 
real stock, real tools, and ends with a real result, whereas the 
trade technical job ends with an arithmetical answer, a piece 
of written work, a sketch or a drawing, which, while they con- 
tribute to the getting out of the product, do so only indirectly. 
The real and practical nature of the work involved in doing a 
production job, therefore, affects the character of the methods 
of instruction used, especially in that it substitutes operations 
performed upon a piece of stock for mental operations or 
ideas as they would be developed in any trade technical jobs. 

The Lesson on the Production Job Deals with Training in 
how to Make Something. In doing a production job, the 
learner is working with actual stock, actual machines, actual 
tools, and is following trade processes. There is little or no 
requirement that he should think in abstract terms. At every 
step in the process he has before his eyes the job on which he is 
working in the form which it takes at that particular stage; 
hence it is easy for him to connect the various processes and to 
grasp the necessity of properly completing one process before 
he undertakes the next one. 

The Lesson on the Production Job Calls for Training in 
Mechanical Intelligence and Judgment. While the trade 
technical unit calls for intelligence and judgment in the use 
of arithmetical processes and other educational "tools," the 



174 THE INSTRUCTOR 

shop job calls for the intelligent use of actual tools and ma- 
chines. These are real things, the learner can see them and 
handle them, whereas, in the lesson on a technical job he can 
only deal with ideas or mind pictures. 

Lines of Approach for the Lesson on a Production Job. 
There are in general two conditions under which the informa- 
tional line of approach can be used effectively in instructing 
on a production job. The first is where the job is simple and 
easy to understand. The second is where the man is already 
well advanced and has reached a point where he has had 
sufficient experience to be able to think and reason for himself. 
An illustration of the first case might be the method of starting 
and stopping a machine. An illustration of the second case 
might be a lesson in roof framing given to a house carpenter 
or in stair building given to a jointer. In the same way there 
are certain kinds of jobs which can be best handled by the de- 
velopment line of approach. It should, in general, be used in 
instructing green men especially at. the beginning of their 
training or, in the case of experienced men who are to be in- 
structed in new methods or in the use of new materials. It is 
also at times the line of approach where the instructor wishes 
to make a particularly strong impression on the man as to the 
necessity of performing some operation in a certain exact way. 
The first case might be illustrated by a lesson in making a 
dovetail joint. The second might be illustrated by instructing 
a blacksmith who had been used to using an oil furnace and 
had been changed over to a gas furnace. 

It is evident that as in all other cases discussed no hard and 
fast rules can be given. According to the character of the 
teaching unit, the experience of the man to be taught and the 
particular results which the instructor wishes to accomplish, 
he will select the most effective line of approach in handling a 
given instruction job on production work. As in other cases, 
as he gains in experience and acquires the "art" of instruction, 
his judgment will be good in this respect. 



PART VI 
LESSON PLANNING 



CHAPTER XXIX 
LESSON PLANNING 

The Lesson Plan. Whenever something is to be taught, the 
plan for instruction can be worked out on paper, and is usually 
designated as the "lesson plan." Such a lesson plan corre- 
sponds to a planning or "operation sheet" in a factory, which 
gives the details as to successive operations and as to the 
character of the product desired. Where such a plan is 
completely worked out it requires three steps. 

1. (a) The getting out of a skeleton plan covering the 

analysis of the teaching unit into the successive 
teaching points that are to be put over arranged 
in an effective teaching order. 

(b) The determination of a suitable J. O. P. 

(c) The layout for step 1, giving the successive ideas 

to be used in leading up to the J. O. P. 

2. The preparation of a general operation sheet from 

the skeleton plan. This sheet gives such data as 
the type of the lesson, the line of approach, meth- 
ods to be used in each step, teaching conditions, 
etc. 

3. The preparation of a detailed operation sheet in which 

the exact details as to just how each step is to be 
carried out are set forth in full. On such a sheet the 
instructor notes down, in full, just what material 
he will need, just what questions he will ask, and 
just what he proposes to say. If a method of illus- 
tration calling for the use of diagrams is to be used, 
he sketches those diagrams on his sheet. A complete 
general operation sheet would correspond to a full 
description of all that was used, all that the instruc- 
tor did, and a stenographic report of all that he said. 
i a 177 



178 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The Instructor Prepares his Lesson Plan before he Puts 
Over the Lesson. All lesson planning is done before the in- 
structor meets the learner to put the lesson over, just as an 
"operation sheet" is prepared before the job is started. Its 
purpose is to enable the instructor to do his thinking before he 
has to actually put over the instruction. 

Unless an instructor is a very experienced teacher if he 
undertakes to do his planning and his putting over at the same 
time, he will make a poor job of the lesson. According to his 
experience he can work from a skeleton plan, a general opera- 
tion sheet, or a detailed operation sheet the less experience 
he has the greater detail he should go into in planning his 
lessons. As he gains in experience he can cut out more and 
more detail, but, no matter how experienced he is he should 
have at least a skeleton plan for each teaching unit that is 
included in his instruction work. 

The Order in which an Operation Sheet is Worked Out. 
The subject of the lesson being determined what goes into the 
teaching unit is fixed. The instructor can determine how he 
will break it up into teaching points, but he has no choice as 
to what to put over. That is fixed by the aim of the lesson. 

The instructor therefore begins by laying out the teaching 
points in step 2, then determines on his J. O. P., then makes his 
layout for step 1, this completes the "skeleton plan," which 
consists of: 

(a) The analysis of the teaching unit into the successive 

teaching points. 

(b) The proposed J. O. P. 

(c) The layout for the proposed Preparation. 

That is, he starts with the teaching unit, gets his J. O. P. from 
that, lays out his preparation from his J. O. P. 

In Planning the Instructor Works Backward. It should be 
noted that in planning a lesson the instructor lays it out in 
exactly the reverse order to the instructing order. He teaches 
step I, J. O. P., step 2. He plans step 2, J. O. P., step 1. In 
teaching he leads up to the teaching unit in planning he works 
out from the teaching unit. 



LESSON PLANNING 179 

Making the Analysis of the Teaching Unit. As stated 
above the first step in getting out a skeleton plan is to analyze 
out the teaching points and arrange them in a suitable order 
for presentation. Here it is important that the lesson, as 
planned, should not contain too many points. Too much 
should not be included in one lesson. A rough rule is that, a 
good lesson should not contain over eight teaching points. If 
the unit as originally determined shows, on analysis, more 
than eight points, it is better to divide it and make two or 
more lessons out of it. 

There are a number of advantages in working with small 
teaching units, especially with green or immature learners. A 
series of short lessons given in a good progressive order will get 
a learner along faster and better than one long lesson covering 
the same ground. 

There are two common difficulties in getting out a good 
analysis of a teaching unit. First, the instructor does not select 
good teaching points, so that each point deals with some one 
part of the instructing job. Second, he does not "bunch" his 
instruction properly around the teaching points. Each point 
should be "cleaned up" as the lesson goes along and, having 
once covered a point it should not, in general, be necessary to 
touch it again during presentation. The general rule to be 
followed here is that the more general and more simple ideas 
should be presented first, the more specific and more complex 
ideas should be presented later. 

Getting Out the " J. O. P." In planning a journey there 
must be a point of departure, but the point of departure may 
vary, and different individuals making the same journey may 
often select different points of departure. In the same way, 
in planning a lesson, it is necessary that the instructor should 
determine what ideas or picture in the learner's mind he pro- 
poses to take as his point of departure at the close of step 1, 
that is just what he intends the learner to be thinking about 
when step 2 is started. This point of departure may be called, 
for convenience, the "jumping-off point" since it is essentially 
the point at which the learner jumps from what he knows to 
what he doesn't know and is to be taught. It is often true 
that a great variety of "jumping-off points" may be selected 



180 THE INSTRUCTOR 

by the instructor. There will undoubtedly be in the learner's 
mind hundreds of ideas which might bear upon the teaching 
unit to be handled in step 2. Certain of these ideas could be 
grouped together to get one "jumping-off point"; but other 
groups of ideas could often be brought together to get another 
"jumping-off point.'* In no case would it be necessary to 
utilize all of the available groups of ideas in the learner's mind. 

Judgment Must be Used in Selecting the J. O. P. In 
selecting a suitable J. O. P. there is no guide but the judgment 
of the instructor. While it is, in general, determined by what 
is in the teaching unit, different instructors would be very 
likely to use different groups of ideas for the J. O. P., according 
to their knowledge of their learners and their particular way 
of working up a lesson. One or two suggestions may be of 
value. A common form of J. O. P. is to get the learner so that 
he knows what the lesson is about and wonders how the job is 
done. This, "I know that somebody can do this job and I 
wonder how it is done" attitude of mind on the part of the 
learner often forms a very good J. O. P. especially in instruc- 
tion on production jobs. A good illustration of this sort of a 
J. O. P. would be where the teaching unit was on the proper 
way to stop an electric car so as to get on it, given to children 
who knew that there was a regular procedure but did not know 
what it was. 

Another type of J. O. P. is a "mind picture" developed in 
the learner's mind. Thus, for example, if the teaching unit 
were on a modification of a job that the learner had been al- 
ready taught he can be made to see himself doing the job that 
he knows how to do as a J. O. P. for the lesson on the new job. 
An example of this sort of a J. O. P. would be where the teach- 
ing unit was on taper turning in the machine shop and the 
learner already knew how to do plain turning, or where a man 
knew how to operate a hand lawn mower and the teaching 
unit was on the operation of a power lawn mower. 

A third class of J. O. P. is where the "mind picture" is made 
up from the learner's past experiences entirely outside of any- 
thing that he has been taught, but which call for ideas some- 
thing like what is in the teaching unit. An illustration of such 
a case would be where the teaching unit was on riveting and, 



LESSON PLANNING 181 

to get a start, the learner was led to think of a shoe lacing, or 
of two pieces of cloth sewed together. This, of course, would 
give a start because the shoe lacing or the thread hold together 
two pieces of material. The thread idea would be the better 
since the two pieces of cloth overlap as two riveted plates do. 
The above statements are, of. course, merely suggestive. 
An instructor must learn by practice to use effective J. O. P.'s. 
The more skillful he is in this, the better lessons 'he can plan. 

Making the Layout for Step i. Having determined on an 
effective J. O. P. the next step is to determine what ideas 
are to be used to lead the learner up to that J. O. P. Here 
again the skill and judgment of the instructor come into 
play. A few general suggestions may be of value. In any 
case it is true that the particular ideas which he would lay out 
in the lesson plan for step 1 would have to be absolutely de- 
termined by the particular " jumping-off point" which he had 
selected. This explains why it is quite possible that in step 1 
the lesson may be carried out effectively by different teachers 
with the use of very different ideas. Probably a successful 
lesson could be conducted by various instructors with different 
bases. The putting over of the notion of a lap joint in boiler- 
making might be based upon the notions of clapboards on the 
side of a house, or on the idea of a lap strake boat, or on a 
picture of shingles on a roof. It should be noted, however, that 
the idea which the instructor would select to bring the pre- 
paratory work to the "jumping-off point" cited above would 
be largely if not entirely different from those which would be 
selected for any other "jumping-off points." 

Working Toward the Objective. The efficient traveler, in 
making a journey will see that every, step that he takes brings 
him nearer to his goal; and in proportion as he side-steps or 
goes out of the direct line of progress he is less efficient in 
accomplishing his aim. In the same way, in the planning of a 
lesson, the instructor must see to it that the different ideas used 
in the carrying out of step 1 are so presented to the earner 
that each idea gets him thinking directly toward the redeter- 
mined end, which is, in step 1, the particular "jumping-off 
point" as determined in advance by the instructor. 



183 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The layout for step 1 therefore consists of: 1st, certain 
ideas arranged in a certain order that the learner may be 
brought to the "jumping-off point'* selected; and d, of a 
group of ideas or a "mind picture, " or recollection of something 
which he already knows which represents the content of the 
"jumping-off point" selected. 

The layout for this step will be efficient in proportion as 
certain simple rules are followed. Among the most important 
of these are: (l),Use as few ideas as possible and get the J. O. 
P. (2) Make the ideas "focus." (3) Make the ideas simple. 

(1) Step 1 takes time during which the learner gets nothing 

new under ordinary conditions. The quicker he gets 
to the J. O. P. the more time saved, both to learner 
and instructor. The fewer the ideas used, provided 
they work, the "neater" job the instructor will have 
done in step 1. A long drawn out preparation will 
"kill" any lesson. 

(2) The ideas used should steadily "drive" the learner 

toward the J. O. P.: they should "focus." The most 
general idea should come first, the most specific last. 
Thus in the lesson given in the next chapter we have 
(1) a rivet; (2) a hot rivet (not all rivets are hot) ; a hot 
rivet just hot enough. (All hot rivets are not just hot 
enough) so that the three ideas "focus", on the 
J. O. P. of "How can one tell when a rivet is just hot 
enough." 

(3) The more simple the ideas used the quicker this step 

can be put over and the less danger of confusing the 
learner or of getting "side tracked" during this step. 

A regular layout form such as is shown on page 187 is a 
great advantage in getting out a "skeleton plan." 

The General Operation Sheet. The general operation sheet 
is got out from the "skeleton plan" which gives ideas and 
teaching points only. It is the "skeleton" with the "how" 
added. For each kind of lesson and for each step in the lesson 
there is a best method under the given teaching conditions. 
The instructor gives careful consideration to these points and 
lays out his general operation sheet accordingly. Here again 



LESSON PLANNING 183 

no general rules can be given. Judgment and experience are 
the only guides. 

A standard form for general operation sheets is a great ad- 
vantage. A suggestive form is shown on page 188. 

The Detailed Operation Sheet. Where used, this sheet is 
developed from the general operation sheet and calls for no 
special discussion. An inexperienced instructor will derive 
great advantage from working out a number of such detailed 
operation sheets. He probably will not use them in actual 
shop instruction, but if he has planned and thought out even 
the least details in advance it will enable him to do much 
better work on the instructing job. 

Planning vs. Instruction. When the instructor has com- 
pleted his lesson plan he still has the problem of putting it 
over to the learner, the group or the class. The planning 
problem is solved but the instructional operation is still to be 
carried out. He must now face his class or his group or his 
individual learner and by the exercise of what has been called 
the art of teaching must skillfully put over the teaching unit. 
His success in doing this will largely depend on his instruc- 
tional management as discussed in the part following. 



CHAPTER XXX 

AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF 
A LESSON 

This chapter gives an illustration of how the operations 
described in the last chapter could be worked out on a given 
teaching unit. 

The teaching unit selected is on how to pick out a rivet at 
the right temperature. 

In explanation it may be stated that, in riveting, the rivets 
are driven hot. They are heated in a small portable furnace or 
forge. A part of the job of the "heater boy" is to pick out 
rivets at the right heat for driving. If too hot they are 
"burned" and should not be driven. If too cold they will not 
drive properly. This particular job would therefore be in- 
cluded in a course of training for heater boys, and, owing to 
its simplicity serves well as an example for planning. It is, of 
course, one of the few jobs that call for judgment. The heater 
boy is paid for knowing how to pick out a rivet at the right 
heat. 

Points to be Considered. In planning a lesson the in- 
structor has three questions to answer. 1st, What are the 
ideas to be put over in the teaching unit? 2d, What is 
the teaching base or "jumping-off point" (J. O. P.) that 
is proposed to be used? 3d, What ideas already in the 
learner's mind does the instructor intend to utilize in 
carrying the learner up to the J. O. P.? Of course it is 
evident that the instructor who knows what he is to teach 
will in working out his plan, follow exactly the reverse order 
from that he will follow in carrying on the lesson with the 
learner. 

184 



AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF A LESSON 185 

Analyzing the Lesson Content. The instructor must de- 
termine the ideas he must put over in the teaching unit, 
which in this case would be as follows: 

The appearance of the rivet varies with the heat. 
The rivet must be at a certain temperature. 
The rivet must be at a white heat. 

Sequence of Ideas Required. Determining the Order of 
Operations. Having analyzed the instruction unit into the 
different ideas of which it is composed, the next step is to 
arrange them into an instructing order, that is, the order in 
which they must be put over. This is again identical with the 
yard problem of making out an operation sheet for determining 
the order in which the successive operations required for a 
given job are to be put through. It is evident that the suc- 
cessive ideas must be arranged in such an order that each 
successive idea when put over, will naturally lead up too, or 
suggest, the next operation or idea that is to be taken up. 
The skillful instructor will take into consideration, in laying 
out his operation sheet, such factors as the previous experi- 
ences of the group, how much they already know, what 
arrangement will best appeal to interest, and any special 
characteristics of the learners, just as a planning board would 
take into consideration the particular kind of stock to be used, 
the capacity of the different machines in the shop, the par- 
ticular machines available for the particular job, etc. There- 
fore, after having analyzed the teaching unit into its constituent 
ideas, they must be arranged in some progressive teaching order 
before a teaching plan or operation sheet can be laid out for step 
2. While experience is the best guide, a few general rules 
can be given. 

Work from the qualitative or general notion to the quanti- 
tative or exact notion, always ask "how" or "what" before 
asking "how much." For example the idea that the rivet 
must be hot enough should be presented before the idea that 
it must be at a certain color. 

General ideas should be presented before specific ideas. 
For example, the idea that the rivet must be at a certain heat 



186 THE INSTRUCTOR 

to be right will be put up before the idea that the right color 
is just under a white heat. 

The Ideas Arranged in a Correct Teaching Order. Taking 
into consideration such general rules as the above we might 
have the following arrangement for a correct teaching order: 

The rivet must be at a certain temperature. 

The appearance of the rivet varies with the heat. 

The rivet must be just under a "scaling" (white) heat. 

The above ideas arranged in the order given constitute the 
teaching unit which is to be put over in step 2. 

Determination of the " J. O. P." In order to put over 
these ideas the learner must be made to have in his mind a 
certain group of ideas or a picture to serve as a foundation 
for the building on of the new idea contained in the teaching 
unit. In this particular lesson, a good J. O. P. is to have 
the learner thinking of the problem of knowing when a rivet 
is hot enough. 

Thus we have, 

J . 0. P. How do we know when a rivet is just hot enough? 

Developing the J. O. P. Having got the J. O. P. the next 
question is to determine how this picture will be developed in 
the learner's mind. As in all other cases experience is the best 
guide. In the case of this lesson the following ideas will prob- 
ably serve the purpose, if as stated in the teaching conditions, 
the learners were familiar with a rivet and have the idea of 
hot and cold, and some general notion of the riveting process, 
having picked these ideas up somewhere. 

We therefore take for step 1, 

First idea, a rivet. 

Second idea, a hot rivet. 

Third idea, a rivet heated enough. 

This gives the skeleton plan, and if entered on a suitable 
form, as suggested in the preceding chapter we would have 
a skeleton plan like the following. Note that in making out his 
plan the instructor works from the analysis of the teaching 
unit, through the J. O. P. to the layout. In using the plan 
he works in the reverse direction, from the top down, 



AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF A LESSON 187 
SKELETON PLAN FOR LESSON 



1 

cfi* 

.2 

4J 

& 

I 

J5 


Primary or Se 


condarv.. Primar ^ 




| 

p 
9 

1 
1 

"8 

1 


First Step 


A rivet 1 




Second Step 


A hot rivet 




| Third Step 


A rivet heated just right 




Fourth Step 






Fifth Step 






J. O. P. How do we know when a rivet is just hot 
enough? 


First Point 


The rivet must be at a certain tem- 


perature 


Second Point 
a* 

a 


The appearance of the rivet varies 


with the heat 


da 

Third Point 


The rivet must be just under a 


"scaling" (white) heat 


Fourth Point 






Fifth Point 







188 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The General Operation Sheet. The instructor must now 
determine how he will answer three questions. First, What 
line of approach he intends to use; Second, What method he 
proposes to use in carrying out each instruction step; Third, 
Just how he proposes to carry out these methods in actually 
putting over the lesson to his learners. In order to answer 
these questions he first prepares a general operation sheet. 
For the lesson under consideration this would be as follows: 

This particular lesson is on a technical unit in trade science. 
The development line of approach can be used effectively 
because the ability to pick out a properly heated rivet calls 
for judgment, and development of this power of judgment in 
the learner can only be secured by making him think about 
the various factors that determine the necessity for picking 
out a rivet at the proper heat. 

Since it is assumed in the teaching conditions that the 
learners have been given no previous instruction on this sub- 
ject, this lesson is an elementary, or primary lesson. Under 
the proposed line of approach the method of the suggestive 
questioning will be effective, and should be used in step 1. 
The method of the development demonstration will work well 
in step 2 steps 3 and 4 could best be handled by testing on 
the job. The general operation sheet would then be laid out 
somewhat as follows if laid out on a suitable form. 

GENERAL OPERATION SHEET 



To pick out a rivet at the right heat, 
leaching Unit 



D . _, T , Because this lesson is 
Primary or Secondary (check) Why? 

to be taught to green boys with no previous experience 
in this line of work except that they have casually seen 
riveting going on. 



AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF A LESSON 189 

TI j !. /r^i. i \ \xri- a Because stock is 
Technical or Production (Check) Why? 

not worked up, but heating to correct heat is a necessary 
step to the production job of riveting. 



Line of Approach. 



STEP i 
Development. 



Calls for training in judgment. 
Reasons 



Suggestive questions. 
Method Adopted rf 



Easiest method and can be used. 
Reasons 



T i_- ^ j-j.- O n tne Jb- Four boys. Group 
Teaching Conditions : 

instruction. 



190 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Can be done under the conditions. Is always the 
Reasons 

best method when it can be used. 



Material Required 



STEP 2 

Development. 



Line of Approach 

Same as in Step 1. 



Reasons. 



Development demonstration. 
Method Adopted " 



Develops intelligence on the job. 
Reasons f . . . 



AN ILLUSTRATION OP THE PLANNING OP A LESSON 191 

Furnace connected, and ready to operate, 
Material Required 

fired up, 25 7 /s" rivets; Air gun and air jam connected and 
ready to operate Two plates bolted up for riveting 
tongs, etc. 



,. ^ j... On the job. 
Teaching Conditions 



Most effective way. 
Keasons 



Line of Approach. 



STEP 3 

Development. 



^ ^ Must train in intelligence and judgment in making 

corrections in parts of lesson not fully understood by the 
learner. 



TUT ., j . On the job. 
Method Adopted 



19S THE INSTRUCTOR 

Only way to be sure they can do it. 



Reasons. 



. Same as in Step 2. 
Material Required 



As in Step 2. 
Teaching Conditions .... 



Application on the job the best method when it 
Reasons 

can be used. It can be used in this case. 



STEP 4 

_ Testing on the job. 

Method Adopted 

Can be done and is best method when it can be done. 



Reasons. 



i T> - i Same as before. 
Material .Required 



AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF A LESSON 193 

A form like that given below is a great convenience in laying 
out auxiliary material against the different jobs in the train- 
ing course. 



STEP 2 
TEACHING 
POINTS 


TRADE 
TERMS 


SAFETY 
FIRST 


CARE OF 
TOOLS AND 
EQUIPMENT 


SCIENCE 


STOCK 


First Point 










Second Point 










Third Point 












Fourth Point 












Fifth Point 


\ 











194 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The Detailed Operation Sheet. As developed from the 
general operation sheet the detail might be laid out as follows: 

Step I. Preparation 

First Idea. (A rivet.) 

1. Have you ever seen a rivet? 

2. Can you tell a rivet from a bolt? 

3. Did you ever see any riveting? 

4. Is a rivet alike at both ends? 

5. Is a rivet round or square? 

Second Idea. (A hot rivet.) 

1. Could you pick up a rivet that you found lying 
around the yard? 

2. If you saw a rivet on top of a hot stove would you 
try to pick it up? 

3. Why would you take a chance in picking up the first 
rivet but not on picking up the second? 

4. Could you tell a very hot rivet from a cold rivet 
without touching it? 

Third Idea. (A rivet heated enough.) 

1. Can a rivet be heated to different heats? 

2. Would it make any difference what heat a rivet has, 
provided it is hot? 

3. Hasn't the heater boy got to know somehow when 
the rivet is at the right heat? 

J . 0. P. How does he know when a rivet is just hot 
enough? 

Step II. Presentation 

First Point. The rivet must be at a certain temperature 
to work right. (Memo. Head up cold and hot rivet.) 

1. Which rivet takes the most time to head up? 

2. Which rivet, hot or cold, makes the best head? 

3. If you were paid for the number of rivets driven, 
which would you prefer, cold or hot rivets? 

4. If rivets with well finished heads only were accepted, 
which would you prefer, hot or cold rivets? (Memo. 
Drive an over-heated rivet.) 



AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF A LESSON 195 

5. Does this rivet head up right? 

6. Would you rather be paid for driving over-heated, or 
properly heated rivets? 

Second Point. (The appearance of the rivet varies with the 
heat.) 

1. Can a rivet be too cold for the job, or too hot for the 
job? (Again head up an under-heated rivet and an 
over-heated rivet, directing the attention of the boys 
to the appearance of the rivets when they are taken 
from the fire.) 

2. Could you see any difference between the two rivets? 

3. Could you pick out an under-heated rivet? An 
over-heated rivet? 

4. How would you do it? 

Third Point. (The rivet must be just under a "scaling'* 
(white) heat.) (Memo. Head up a properly heated rivet.) 

1. Has this rivet worked right? 

2. Could you tell a rivet that would work right from 
one that is under-heated or over-heated by looking 
at it ? 

3. How would you pick out a properly heated rivet ? 

Step III. Application 

(Memo. Place rivets in fire.) Have each boy pick out 
correctly heated rivets, meantime asking such questions as 
are suggested below, of the other three boys. 

Bill, Pick out a correctly heated rivet. 

Sam, Did he do it? 

Jack, How do you know he did it? 

Tom, You pick out a rivet. 

Jack, You watch him. 

Sam, Pick out another one. 

Bill, That wasn't right, was it? 

Jack, Pick out a burnt rivet. 

(Memo. Carry on work of this kind until satisfied each 
boy knows a properly heated rivet.) 



196 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Step IV. Testing 

(Memo. Proceed to rivet and say:) 

Now I'm going to riveting and am going to use each of you 
boys in turn as a heater boy to pass me ten rivets. If all ten 
are at the right heat I'll O. K. you to the foreman for a job. 
Go to it, Sam. You other three fellows don't mix in, give him 
a show. You'll get your turn. Watch me rivet. 

Use of Other Methods. Other methods entirely unsuitedfor 
teaching a lesson of this type, and one of which would prob- 
ably be selected by a poor teacher, but which a good teacher 
would never use for this sort of lesson, are illustrated in this 
paragraph. Had the informational line of approach been 
selected, the questions in step 1 would have been so framed 
that the answers would require no thinking by the boys. 

The instructor might hold up a rivet and say, Is this a 
rivet? 

Is it a hot rivet? 

Is riveting done with hot or with cold rivets? 

Do the rivets have to be at any particular heat? 

Same conditions are assumed as in above lesson, that is, 
boys have seen riveting. 

In the next step the instructor might head up three rivets, 
one under-heated, one over-heated, and one correctly heated. 

As he picks out the under-heated rivet he might say, "You 
see, this is dull red. It will not do a good job. I'll prove it to 
you" and then demonstrates, proceeding in the same way with 
an over-heated rivet and a correctly heated rivet. 

In step 3, where a boy picked out a rivet at the wrong heat 
he will either tell the boy it was wrong or point out one at the 
right heat. 

If the recitation method were used in step 3 the instruc- 
tor would be prepared with a set of "cross examination" 
questions, such as, Must a rivet be heated at the right 
temperature? 

How can you tell an over-heated or under-heated rivet, etc. 
(informational approach) or, by the (developmental approach), 
"Why isn't an over-heated rivet just as good? Why isn't an 
under-heated rivet just as good?" etc. 



AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF A LESSON 197 

By the examination method a few questions selected at 
random would be given. Under either approach the instructor 
would, by giving additional information or by suggestive com- 
ment, straighten out any points he found needing it. 

If the lecture method were used the instructor would proceed 
somewhat as follows: "You boys have seen a rivet, you know 
that rivets may be heated and that the rivet heater has to 
know when a rivet is at the right heat. In doing this he goes 
by the color. If the rivet is red hot it is too cold, if it is too 
hot it scales, so the way to know a rivet at the right heat is to 
pick out one that is just under a good white heat, but not to 
let it get so hot that it scales." 

The last two steps of the lesson would probably, in this case, 
be handled by the recitation or examination method, although, 
of course, any method could be used. 

The Experimental Method. This method could be used 
very effectively in step 2, but is not selected in the lesson 
plan as given because it was not considered it would "pay" 
in this particular lesson. By this method the instructor would 
head up rivets passed him by the boys making no comment 
but calling attention in each case to the character of the result- 
ing job. He would keep this up until the boys had discovered 
by this experimental method the proper color for a rivet that 
will do a good job. 

The Results of Experience. As an instructor gains in 
experience he will learn how to select methods and lines of 
approach best suited to a given lesson. As he becomes ex- 
perienced he will also gradually get so that he will not find it 
necessary to work out each detail of the operation sheet as 
fully as in the sample given in this section. The proper ques- 
tions, etc., will come naturally to him as he carries on the 
lesson. He will "follow the class" as is sometimes said. With 
practice he will even go from step to step automatically, so 
that he will finally cease to need an operation sheet on lessons 
with which he is thoroughly familiar. A good instructor will, 
however, always work from a lesson plan. He will always 
make his analysis. A collection of such lesson plans for all the 
lessons that he has to teach is the most important part of the 



198 THE INSTRUCTOR 

instructor's "kit of tools," and the possession of a "kit" and 
the ability to use the "tools" in it is one of the indications that 
show that an instructor is not an instructional "butcher." 

Use of a Form for the Detailed Operation Sheet. A regular 
form made out for detailed operation sheets is a convenience 
where much work of this sort is to be done. A sample of such 
a form filled out for a simple job is given below. 

J^ Italic is printed part of blank. IStl 

Name: John Smith. Trade: Pattern Making. 

Subject of Lesson: Laying up Stock for Gluing. 

Type of Lesson: Trade Technical. Derived. 

Date: Dec. 21, 1915. 

Class: Boston. Section II. 

Director: Allen. 

The Teaching Conditions. The lesson is to be taught to a group 

who have already had the following experiences. (This may 

range from nothing up to certain lessons in the same unit.) 

Class of 10 men who know the principles of warping and 

why boards warp as they do with reference to heart and sap 

sides. 

The Line of Approach, Development. 

STEP 1. PREPARATION 

The Analysis for the Teaching Basis. Out of all the ideas in 
the minds of the pupils it is proposed to develop the follow- 
ing as a preparatory basis, and to bring them out in the 
following order: 

First idea: What is the use of gluing? 

Second idea: At least two pieces of stock will be required. 

Third idea: These two pieces must be put together, face to 
face. 

Method: Suggestive Questions 

Proposed Order of Procedure. It is proposed to develop these 
ideas in the order given above by the following questions: 



AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF A LESSON 199 
First Idea 

Is it ever necessary to fasten two pieces of wood together? 
What do you do it for? What are some different ways of 
doing it? Have you ever seen a case where nails were 
not used? What method was used? When would you use 
glue instead of nails? Why? Name some cases where 
you have seen glued joints. 

Second Idea 

Can you imagine one piece of stock? Why not? At least 
how many pieces would you need? Can you glue up 
more than two pieces? Could a pattern be built of parts 
glued together? 

Third Idea 

Could you glue two pieces of stock together by the corners, 
and get a strong joint? Why not? Could you glue two 
balls together and ^et a strong joint? Why not? What 
must you have to get a strong joint? What would deter- 
mine the strength of different joints with same glue? Which 
would be the stronger, two l/^" surfaces or two J4" surfaces 
glued together? Why? 

J. O. P. 

TWO PIECES OF STOCK CAN BE PUT TOGETHER IN 
THREE WAYS HEART TO HEART, SAP TO SAP, 
SAP TO HEART. 

STEP 2. PRESENTATION 

Analysis of New Ideas to be Presented and Determination of 
Order of Presentation. The new material which is to be 
"put over' 9 (taught) consists of the following ideas or steps 
which it is proposed to present in the following order; 

First Point 
Are all three ways equally good, and why? 



200 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Second Point 
Which method is right, and why? 

Method of Presentation 

The various ideas or steps in the determined order must now be 
presented by some determined method. As a preliminary 
the following questions should be answered: based on the 
following table of possibilities. 

Some Possible Methods of Presentation 

Development Approach. Informational Approach. 

(a) Experiment. (a) Demonstration. 

(b) Demonstration. (b) Illustration. 

(c) Illustration. (c) Lecture. 

What method do you intend to use? 
Development Demonstration. 

Reasons for Selection of Method 

Lesson is to be taught in the classroom and demonstrations 

on material can be easily brought into the classroom in any 

desirable quantity. 
Write out in full how you would carry out the method, describing 

any demonstration material used, any questions that you 

would ask, or statements that you would make. Use diagrams 

or sketches if required. Give full details of the whole process 

of presentation. 
Demonstration material: Several short lengths of wood 

showing end grain clearly. 
Have a man put two pieces together, with ends toward the 

class. Have a man sketch the ends as they show upon the 

blackboard. 
Have another man make a different arrangement of the 

two pieces. Have this sketched on board. Have this 

also sketched and compared as to appearance of end grain. 

Then try for a third method. Again sketch and compare. 

Designate these as sketched on the board as A, B, and C, 



AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE PLANNING OF A LESSON 201 

"John, do you think that you can show me which is the 
heart side of any of these pieces of wood I have here? Which 
way have all these pieces of wood warped? If you were 
to glue two of these pieces together with their heart sides 
facing the same way do you think they would have that 
tendency to warp that way? What do you think would be 
a good way to place those two pieces to overcome that 
tendency to warp? Sam, would you place the heart or the 
sap sides together? Why the sap sides? Then it would 
be better for that reason to place the heart sides out, would 
it not? Can anyone give me another reason that has to 
do with the warping tendencies that would also make this 
method of arranging the stock desirable? 

STEP 3. APPLICATION 

Distribute among the men a number of blocks of wood, 
several to each man. Require each man to designate 
heart and sap sides of each block. Get each man to put 
the blocks together properly, aiding him by suggestive 
questions if necessary. 

INSPECTION AND TESTING 

Require each learner to arrange the blocks distributed to 
him in the proper manner for gluing, giving no assistance. 
Inspect each arrangement when completed. 



PART VII 
INSTRUCTIONAL MANAGEMENT 



CHAPTER XXXI 
SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF THE INSTRUCTOR 

A. PRELIMINARY DISCUSSI'ON 

Preliminary. Any plan for training is carried on in order to 
render a certain service to the plant. The maintenance or 
engineering department keeps the plant and equipment in 
condition to do work. The shops turn out the product. 
The training plan, whatever it may be, also has its definite 
job, that of turning out men who are able to work in the 
different production departments, and able to do their jobs 
efficiently and rapidly. 

This chapter deals with some of the problems that confront 
a shop instructor in dealing with the men that he has to train, 
and points out some of the differences between handling 
men under production conditions and under instructional 
conditions. 

The Place of the Instructor. The instructor in any indus- 
trial plant is one of the staff; as such he must work under 
the general conditions that are determined by the organiza- 
tion. To this extent he must adapt himself to conditions 
that, in a sense, are outside of his control. On the other 
hand, he is charged with the responsibility of training the men 
that are assigned to him, and, under the general working 
conditions as set up by the general organization, he must 
work out his own methods and his own instructional man- 
agement. As one of the force he must work in cooperation 
with the other members of the force; with the other instructors; 
with whoever may be his superiors in the training work. 
If in a definitely organized training department he must 
work with the other members of the staff. If he is working 
as an individual, say as an instructing foreman or as a produc- 

205 



206 THE INSTRUCTOR 

tion foreman training his own force in his own department, 
he must handle his own men so that his job is well done, under 
the particular conditions that come out of the special nature 
of the trade that he teaches, the special purpose for which his 
men are to be trained, and the type of men that comprise his 
instructional group. 

Some Things that the Instructor Needs to Know. In general, 
an instructor needs to possess two kinds of knowledge, he 
must know how to handle his gang effectively, how to work out 
an effective instructional order, how to put over the various 
teaching units that comprise that instructional order, how to 
analyze and classify his trade knowledge so as to be able to 
secure that effective instructional order. This sort of work 
pertains directly to the instructing job. In addition to what 
may be called this special "job" knowledge he must also be 
familiar with the general organization in which he is working, 
with its special aims (the particular sort of a job that it is 
trying to put over), and with the relations of the training work 
to the other departments with which it must work. .(The 
employment department, the production department, etc.) 
Unless an instructor is so informed he will be unable to work 
in cooperation with the other members of the organization, 
will not be able to work in harmony with them, and will be 
unable to do his part in making the training organization a 
smoothly running machine, doing its work efficiently, rapidly 
and smoothly. 

The General Proposition. In general any training plan 
must be organized with regard to the factors of speed in 
training, efficiency in training and number of men to be 
trained. Thus we have a speed organization, a quality or- 
ganization and a quantity organization. 

The Speed Factor. The plant must not only turn out its 
product but it must as quickly as possible, therefore any men 
that must be trained to bring the working force up to full 
production strength must be got onto regular production work 
as soon as possible. If it is the job of the training organiza- 
tion to supply any deficiencies in skill that may exist in the 
men that are hired or in men already employed, the sooner 



SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF THE INSTRUCTOR 207 

these men are got out on production with that additional skill, 
the greater the efficiency of the production force. The training 
organization must therefore not only train its men well but it 
must also train them as quickly as possible. If, by the use of the 
most scientific training methods, a ship riveter or a paper box 
maker can be trained in three weeks, and if by less effective 
methods it takes six weeks, the three weeks gained mean just so 
much more production. If, by good methods of instruction, 
a machine hand can be trained in two months, and by poor 
methods it would require a year, the ten months gained 
represent just so many more machined parts turned out and 
production has been speeded up to that extent. 

The Efficiency Factor. These men must not only be trained 
in as little time as possible but, whatever work they may be 
trained to do, when they complete the training they must 
know how to do that work as well as possible. They must 
know how to do their jobs right; they must make few mistakes; 
they must spoil little stock. They must be trained so that 
mistakes and poor methods will not reduce speed of produc- 
tion. 

The Quantity Factor. Enough men must be trained to do 
the job and, whatever the number required the training 
organization must be able to take care of them and get them 
trained by the time that they are needed. It cannot wait 
until the men are needed in production and then train them 
but the men must be trained in advance to meet the demand 
when it comes. This problem must be provided for in the 
organization, for, if the men are not ready when they are 
needed, production will be held up accordingly. 

B. THE JOB OF THE TRAINING PLAN 

Preliminary. It is the job of the training plan to fill orders 
for its product, and its product is training. The employ- 
ment department knows how many men are required to keep 
the work up to full speed in any given line; it secures the 
necessary men. If these men are already skilled in the trades 
that are called for they are sent directly to the department 
where they are needed; if they are only partially skilled, or 



208 THE INSTRUCTOR 

unskilled, they are put under training to acquire skill before 
they are put into the production work as competent men. 
The job of the training plan, however it may be organized 
is therefore to take the men that are sent to it and provide 
training so that each man, when discharged from training, 
can go into regular production work so trained, that his skill 
will enable him to do the most effective work. 

The training scheme therefore takes in men who cannot 
do jobs and turns them back to the employment department 
able to do jobs. Effective production requires men, skill 
and materials; the training makes up any deficiencies in skill 
that any given man may need before he goes into production. 
Its product is therefore training, and it will do its work well 
in proportion as it trains well, trains rapidly and trains by the 
use of the best instructional methods. 

Effective Management. Whenever work is to be done 
there is always a best way of doing it; if the work is production 
work there is a best order of operations, those operations 
can best be carried out by the use of certain machines or other 
equipment units, and there will be certain types of equipment 
units that give the best service under the given working 
conditions. The general problem of studying such a produc- 
tion problem and determining the conditions as to layout, 
equipment, selection of equipment units, etc., that will enable 
the factory or the shop to turn out the best product in the 
least time with the least waste of power, time and stock, is 
the problem of the efficiency engineer. 

In the same way the trainer has the problem of getting 
out his product (training), as rapidly, as can be done and 
still do a good job, with the least turnover (waste), and with 
the least expenditure of energy both on his part and on the 
part of the learner. In general, his problems are similar to 
those of the production engineer, he endeavors to reduce 
the expenditure of time and energy to the minimum by using 
properly worked out orders of instruction, by setting up the 
best teaching units, by selecting the most efficient methods 
for each lesson that he puts over, and for each step in the 
lesson; he holds his turnover down to the minimum by effec- 
tive handling of his gang. Where the efficiency engineer 



SPECIAL PROBLEMS OF THE INSTRUCTOR 209 

determines that a certain order of operations will give the 
best results, the instructor determines what order of instruction 
will give the best instructional results; where the production 
engineer decides, that for the doing of a certain production 
job certain machines should be used, the trainer decides, that, 
for the effective doing of a certain training job certain methods 
and lines of approach will best serve the purpose. 

The trainer is therefore essentially an instructional engineer 
and must attack his training problems in the same way that 
the production engineer attacks his problems. In the same 
way the whole problem of training is essentially one in training 
engineering, such a department is a training engineering depart- 
ment, and in its organization it will provide for the best means 
of working out its training engineering problems. 

Instructional Management. Just as we have employment 
management, or production management, so we have in- 
structional, or training management, the term meaning that 
sort of planning and arranging and organizing for effective 
instruction and training that the other departments do in their 
respective fields for their respective purposes. That side of 
instructional management that deals with the handling of the 
group under instruction is discussed in a later chapter; the 
questions that apply particularly to the work of the director 
of a training department, where such a department is estab- 
lished, are discussed in other chapters; this section deals with 
the general principles of organization as they affect the instruc- 
tor so far as they affect his own work with his own men. 
14 



CHAPTER XXXII 

ORGANIZATION FOR HANDLING THE DIFFERENT 
TYPES OF INSTRUCTION 

Preliminary. As discussed elsewhere in more detail any 
plan for training men in an industrial plant may have to deal 
with any or all of at least three distinct training problems, 
training the green man, training the competent mechanic 
who only needs to be given such training as will enable him to 
"convert" his trade into a new trade and training the man al- 
ready employed who needs more training in the line of his 
trade in order that he may do a better job or do work of a 
higher grade. 

Since the general principles laid down in this chapter apply 
to the trade or industrial school with the same force that they 
apply to the industrial shop, no distinction has been made 
between them in the discussion. 

For convenience we will designate the first type of man 
as a green man, the second type as a conversion man, the 
third type as a trade extension man. Each type must be 
handled through a distinct type of organization. 

Organization for Handling the Green Man. Under ordi- 
nary conditions it is probable that the green man will be 
mostly trained for the simpler trades or for the simpler lines 
of work in the trades. As a practical matter it is not probable 
that, for efficient training work, an attempt would be made to 
train an exsalesman for a tool maker, it would take too long. 

However that may be, the organization for the training 
of the green men should provide for handling them in suffi- 
ciently small groups for effective training, for admission into 
the group at practically any time, for individual instruction 
while in the group, for instructional hours that are the same 
as the working hours in the plant and for training on produc- 
tion work. 

210 



HANDLING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTRUCTION 211 

Sometimes there is a tendency to carry on training for less 
than the regular working time unit, the reason given being 
that it is training work and not production work. This 
is, of course, no reason at all; the notion of the shorter work- 
ing unit generally comes, in fact, from the fact that the 
regular schools operate a smaller number of hours per day 
than do the industrial plants. This is true and there are 
some reasons for it that do not apply to training department 
when carried on in a trade school or in the plant. In the 
first place most of the regular school work is "book work" 
rather than work in which the learner is doing something; so 
that the fatigue factor comes up in less time than in work 
where the thinking and the doing are combined. In the 
second place most of the regular school work is carried on 
inside of buildings where the air is often none too good, a 
condition very different from that existing in outside produc- 
tion work or even in instruction work in the shop. In the 
third place the learners in the regular schools are mainly 
children and those in the training organization are men. In 
the fourth place there is no particular reason why the regular 
schools cannot operate more hours a week than has been the 
custom and some are now doing it. In the last place, even if 
all other conditions were disregarded, the time required for 
training should be kept down to a minimum because the man 
should be got into production work as soon as he can be 
effectively trained, and the more hours a day that can be put 
onto training, the fewer days will be required for the com- 
pletion of the training course. 

Organizing for Individual Progression. Not only should 
the training work be so organized that a man can be admitted 
to an instructional group at any time but the organization 
should be such that each man can progress through the course 
of training required for his particular case as rapidly as his 
individual capabilities will admit. A "bright" man should 
not be held back by men who are less "bright" nor should a 
"slow" man be speeded up in an attempt to make him keep 
up with the fast man. Each man should be allowed to travel 
at his own best gait. 

In order to do this it is evident that there can be no class 



212 THE INSTRUCTOR 

organization, as discussed in Section D and seldom even group 
organization, but practically all the organization must be on 
the basis of individual instruction. 

Organization for Discharging the Man from his Group. 
Just as the organization must provide for individual admission, 
and individual progression, it must also provide for individual 
discharge from the instructional group and so from the train- 
ing work. If men are to be admitted at all times and are to 
progress each at his own maximum gait, evidently there 
can be no "graduation day" for the group, but each man 
will come up for discharge in a time determined by his rate of 
progression and at a date determined by the date of his admis- 
sion and by the speed with which he has progressed through 
the instructional course. Any other organization, especially 
one modeled on the procedure of the regular schools, where 
there are fixed times of admission and of "discharge" 
would defeat the ends of efficient training and are out of the 
question. 

Proper Organization for Training a Green Man. An 
efficient training organization should therefore plan for the 
training of green men on a basis of individual admission, 
individual progression and individual discharge. 

Organization for Handling Conversion Men. The conver- 
sion man differs from the green man in that he already has a 
trade which, to a greater or less extent, already fits into the 
requirements of the trade or the job to which he is to be 
converted. He therefore differs from the green man in two 
ways, first he is a mechanic; he has a trade experience behind 
him; second, it is probable that he knows more about the 
production jobs of the new trade to which he is to be converted 
than he knows about the technical jobs, or than he is posted 
on the auxiliary knowledge. It is not improbable therefore 
that he may be handled in two ways according to special 
circumstances. On the production work the organization 
should be such that he can be taken care of as if he were 
a green man; on the side of the auxiliary knowledge it is not 
improbable that, under some circumstances, use can be made 
of the group or even of the class organization. 



HANDLING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTRUCTION 213 

The organization for handling conversion men should 
therefore provide for individual work, as for green men, 
and should also provide for class or group work. 

The tendency will be to attempt to do too much work 
with conversion men on a class basis; the value of such work 
is limited to certain special cases, but the possibility of those 
special cases coming up is sufficient to warrant provision for 
class work in the organization. 

Organization for Handling Trade Extension Men. These 
men offer entirely different characteristics from the other 
two groups of men, especially, of course, the green men. 
They are likely to need either special individual instruction 
in certain operations, as when the machinist wants to learn 
the use of the index head, or they want training in the technical 
jobs of their trade. Under these conditions it is sometimes 
possible to make good use of the class organization. In general, 
the organization for dealing with this class of men should in- 
clude both provision for class work, and for individual work. 

Organization for Handling Green Men. In practically all 
cases the organization for training green men should be for train- 
ing them on production, not on exercises. The distinction be- 
tween these two methods of training is discussed in Part I. 
The organization should be such that production is a by product 
of training or the training will not be efficient. This point is 
very important, because, if, under this method of training, the 
"production" idea "runs away" with the "instruction" idea, 
the efficiency of the training is very seriously impaired. 

Production Work a By Product of Instruction. The pur- 
pose of turning production jobs over to the training organiza- 
tion is, of course, to give that organization an opportunity to 
train the man on a real job, not as an immediate reason to get 
the work done, but, as a result of the instructional process the job 
is done as a by product. The instructor is thinking of training 
the man and the man is thinking of teaming how to do the job, 
but, nevertheless the job is done. 

What is Meant by a " By Product." In manufacturing, a 
by product is a "side show," that is, it is something that is 
obtained incidentally to the production of the thing that the 



214 THE INSTRUCTOR 

concern is organized to produce. For example, a gas company 
is organized to produce gas, but in the making of the gas a 
considerable amount of coal tar is produced. The company 
is in business to make gas, not coal tar, but it gets the tar as a 
by product, and it is a by product of considerable value. In 
the same way a training department is in business to produce 
trained men, but, if it trains its men on real jobs, these jobs 
are a by product of the work of the department, and to that 
extent increase production. 

The Value of the " Production by Product." In the first 
place, production counts, and any work that can be turned out 
in connection with training is so much to the good, provided, 
of course, that the efficiency of the training is not impaired. 
In the second place experience has shown that the surest way 
to keep up the interest of a learner is to give him a real job. 
If a man knows that the work that he does is going to be 
subjected to the test of real use he is much more interested, if 
he knows that, no matter how good a job he does it will be 
scrapped. In the third place, instruction on real jobs gives 
the best instructional conditions because the man is trained 
to work under the same surroundings as he will work under 
later in the production department. If a man will have to 
work out of doors, or in heat, or with a lot of noise going on 
all around him, he should get used to these working conditions 
while he is in training, not after he gets into production. 
Training him to work under these conditions is an important 
part of his training. 

Training Departments should Organize for Training on 
Production Material. Any plan that may be put in operation 
for training should include in its organization, effective provi- 
sion for training on production work, whenever such training 
is desirable. The degree to which this will be necessary will 
depend, to a considerable extent, on whether it is proposed to 
train trade extension men, conversion men or green men. 

Production Work and Trade Extension Men. As already 
pointed out, trade extension men are already well acquainted 
with a considerable portion of their trade; they usually need 
instruction either in some special operations or in technical 



HANDLING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTRUCTION 215 

jobs or need to be informed with regard to some particular 
sort of auxiliary knowledge. 

Where special operations are called for such men can usually 
be trained on production work. Where the demand is for 
additional training in some special technical jobs production 
work can often be used to advantage, but, with such men, 
exercise work can also be safely used in many cases, as in 
blueprint reading for machinists. In some cases where there 
is need for passing out auxiliary information, training on pro- 
duction is not called for as a regular thing. In each case the 
training work should be organized to meet these special needs 
as they arise. 

Organization for Certain Types of Trade Extension Work: 
Supplementary Job Training. In many trades the need of 
the trade extension man is for an opportunity to learn how 
to do certain jobs that he cannot learn to do in connection 
with his regular work. A machinist who is familiar with the 
plain miller wants to learn how to operate a universal miller, 
or a man who can drive button head rivets wants to learn how 
to drive countersunk rivets. In such cases the man can, and 
should, be trained on production jobs, and, always without 
exception, must be handled by the method of individual 
instruction. In this case he differs from the green man in a 
number of ways. He has had considerable trade experience 
to fall back on and so will "eaten on'* quicker. His interest 
is usually strongly aroused, because learning to do the new 
job usually means getting a better job so the vocational 
motive is strong. As a rule, what he has to learn is a small 
extension of what he already knows. All of this makes the 
work of the instructor easier, but does not allow the substitu- 
tion of exercises for real jobs. 

Instructors often tend to plan to train this type of trade- 
extension man in classes and on non-productive work; this 
should not be attempted except in special cases that have been 
carefully considered, since training such men on non-produc- 
tive work, means, in general, less efficient instruction. 

Organization for Certain Types of Trade Extension Work: 
Auxiliary Material. In certain cases the trade extension man 



216 THE INSTRUCTOR 

only needs to be informed as to certain auxiliary material; 
for example, suppose that trade extension machinists only 
need to be informed as to a standard method of putting dimen- 
sions on the blueprint, or crane operators might need to have 
their attention drawn merely to the necessity of taking certain 
precautions in handling material. In , such cases the class 
organization can be used to advantage under certain condi- 
tions, among the most important of which are that the men 
thoroughly know their jobs and already appreciate the neces- 
sity for securing and applying the information that is to be 
given them. Even under these circumstances the " first 
choice" would be to take up the matter with them on the job, 
if that were possible. With class organization when demon- 
stration cannot be used, the discussion or the illustration should 
be used rather than the lecture. 

As pointed out elsewhere, unless the handing out of informa- 
tion is strongly backed up by the discussion of problems in 
which that information comes into play, it is not likely to 
" stick" and only under such conditions with men of consider- 
able experience in the trade. 

Organization for Conversion Work. In general, organiza- 
tion for conversion work will aim at giving auxiliary material 
or at training on jobs or at both. A house carpenter, for 
example, during conversion into a ship carpenter, may 
need to know certain terms (ship terms for example), and he 
may need to learn how to do certain jobs on the ways that he 
never has done as a house carpenter. His condition is there- 
fore essentially the same as that of the trade extension man 
and the same general organization will meet the situation. 

Organization for Training Green Men. There is little 
doubt that under the ordinary working conditions the questions 
of effective organization for the training of green men will be 
of more importance than any other questions of organization 
for the training work. The problem of organizing for training 
green men is the one that will give the instructor the most 
trouble and will call for the most careful study to determine 
the best instructional conditions. 

In general, it may be said that one instructor should carry 



HANDLING THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INSTRUCTION 217 

the group through the training course, both through the 
period of instruction proper and through the training period. 
One instructor should not instruct and another train. It is 
also true that under practical working conditions the condi- 
tions of elastic admission to the group, elastic progression 
through the group and elastic discharge from the group will 
have to be observed. Men will have to be admitted at any 
time, put through the training and instructional work as 
fast as they can individually progress, and be discharged as 
soon as they are trained. 

In practice, therefore, the group organization will have 
to be such that the instructor can handle men in all stages 
of progression through his course of instruction, know where 
they are in the course at any given time and know when they 
are trained and ready to go out into production. 

Organization for Training and for Instructing: The Order 
of Procedure. As stated elsewhere there are two periods 
that a learner must be carried through : a period of instruction, 
in which he learns how to do the job and a training period 
during which he gets so that he can do the job rapidly and well. 

In dealing with these two periods there are, of course, 
two possible methods of handling them: we could instruct 
the man in all the jobs in the instructional order and then 
train him, or we could instruct him on each job and then 
train him on that job before we instructed him on the next 
job. We can really take training and instructing as two 
independent blocks and use either the spiral or the block pro- 
gression method. 

The Proper Procedure to Organize to Train and Instruct 
Job by Job. The most efficient method of procedure is un- 
doubtedly to train and instruct job by job, and the organiza- 
tion should provide for this method of procedure. Some of the 
more important reasons for this are as follows: First, the 
man's interest will be much greater if he feels that he is getting 
"the whole of the job*' at one time; second, if the training 
period is deferred until the end of the course, he will have 
forgotten a good deal of his instruction, and will have to 
be instructed all over again, which takes time; third, if, 



218 THE INSTRUCTOR 

under the organization as outlined, the instructor has some 
men in his group who are under training as distinguished 
from being under instruction, these men will need but little 
attention except an inspection from time to time, and the 
instructor can give more of his time to instructional work with 
those men in his group who are under instruction as distin- 
guished from being under training. This, of course, enables a 
large group to be handled which is an advantage. 
The organization should therefore provide for: 

1. Both instruction and training to be given by the same 
instructor and 

2. Instruction and training to be given job by job. 
The Instructor and the General Organization of the Plant. 

The organization that an instructor sets up in handling his 
group is only a part of the organization of the plant, taken 
as a whole. It is very important that all instructors should 
"fit in" well with the general organization; should be careful 
not to "cross wires"; should carefully follow the methods of 
procedure laid down, especially in dealing with another de- 
partment. In the push of the work the temptation is strong 
to "cut across lots" and save time, or to change some method 
of procedure in the immediate interests of getting the work 
done, but, in the long run such deviations from the established 
practice do more harm than good. The instructor who adapts 
his organization to that of the department or to that of the 
plant as a whole and who "plays fair" with the general or- 
ganization, will, in the long run, do the most to promote speed 
in production. 



CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL GANG 
A. GENERAL PRELIMINARY 

Preliminary. Whenever work of any kind is to be done 
by a group of men under some sort of direction there must be 
some sort of organization. The character of the organization 
will vary with the particular sort of work that is to be done, 
with the conditions under which it is to be done, with the 
sort of men that the work is to be done with and with the 
particular purpose for which the work is to be done. Thus, 
we have the military organization for doing the military 
"job," the school organization for doing the "school" job, 
the special organization of the riveting gang for doing a 
riveting job, and so on, each organization being worked out 
with regard to the needs of the particular job that is to be 
done. 

The Learner and the " Gang. " Whenever a job is to be 
done by a group we always find that there must be the work- 
men who do the work and the leader; the "gang" and the 
"boss"; without the gang, the work would not be done; 
without the boss the work would not be well done; the different 
men in the gang would be working at cross purposes, there 
would be a lot of "crossed wires, " nobody would know exactly 
where he "got off" and where the other fellow "got on." 

The leader is responsible for the planning of the work, 
for the order in which the different operations are carried out, 
for the clearing up of difficulties, for keeping the work going. 
The members of the gang are responsible for doing the work, 
for doing it well and for intelligently carrying out the instruc- 
tions of the leader. Without the leader the gang could not 
do their job, without the gang the job could not be done. 
The doing of a good job requires both a good boss and a good 

219 



220 THE INSTRUCTOR 

gang, and in order that both boss and gang can do their work 
there must be a good organization the particular kind of 
organization being worked out to best meet the special re- 
quirements for doing a certain kind of a job. 

The Purpose of Organization. By organization is meant 
such arrangements as may be determined upon for enabling 
the boss and the gang to perform their respective function^ 
(do their jobs) with the greatest efficiency and with the least 
"lost motion" and friction. A good organization provides 
for good working conditions, for the right working relations 
between the leader and the different members of the gang, 
for the providing of the necessary working material, and, 
above all, it definitely fixes the responsibility of each man, 
that is, it determines his job. 

Organization is therefore merely a means to an end, and that 
end is to secure and maintain good working conditions. 

The Training Gang. A training scheme is operated to train 
men, that is, to do a definite job, therefore there must be 
organization, as in the case of any other department that is 
organized to do a job. The general questions relating to the 
organization of a training plan mainly concern the general 
organization but since there must be a group of men to be 
trained by each instructor, that part of the problem of or- 
ganization that directly affects the instructor is discussed in 
this chapter. 

A training gang consists of an instructor, or "training 
boss," and a group of men to be trained, or the "training gang." 
The organization must be such that the instructor can instruct 
and the men can learn, and that the instructing process can 
be carried on as efficiently as possible, that is, the organization 
must provide for good instructional conditions and for the 
proper relations between the training department and any 
other department that may be concerned in the carrying on 
of the work. 

Characteristics of the Training Gang. In production work 
we find, in general, two sorts of gangs : the first sort of gang is a 
"team," that is, the gang as a whole are organized to do a 
job but each member of the gang only does a part of the job. 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL GANG 221 

This would be true, for example, in the case of a riveting gang 
on structural steel work, or in machine box making. The 
other sort of a gang consists of a group of workmen, each 
of whom is doing a whole job; hence each man in the gang 
is doing an individual job for which he is responsible directly 
to the boss or foreman. This might be true, for example, in 
printing, or house carpentry or in the machine shop. 

The training gang is of the latter type; each man in the 
gang is on his own job, that of getting training; he is responsi- 
ble to the instructor for the whole "job"; that of being trained, 
and the instructor is responsible for putting each man through 
the entire training course that has been laid out for the particu- 
lar training of each man. 

This fact affects the character of the organization of the 
training gang in a number of ways, as will be discussed later. 
Another factor that affects the organization of the instructional 
gang is that it consists, not of men who know their jobs, but 
of men who are to be trained to do jobs later. They are not 
workmen but learners. A third factor affecting the organiza- 
tion is that the work of the gang is not production but instruc- 
tion; the difficulties that must be met are not production 
difficulties but learning difficulties. 

All the above factors and many others affect the organiza- 
tion of the instructional gang and must be taken into con- 
sideration. The chief fact to which attention is directed 
at this point is that there must be an effective organization 
but that it must be more or less different from the organization 
of a production gang. 

Some Important Points in Organization. In considering 
the problem of the organization of the instructional gang it 
will be found that it concerns itself mainly with ways and 
means for dealing with the following: 

1. Bringing the instructor and the gang together. 

2. Making up the gang. (Taking on men. Admission.) 

3. Providing proper instructional conditions. 

4. Providing efficient instruction. 

5. Dropping men from the gang when trained. (Dis- 
charge.) 



22S THE INSTRUCTOR 

B. ORGANIZATION TO GET A PLACE TO WORK IN 

Bringing the Gang and the Instructor Together. This 
means that some place must be provided where the instructor 
and the men under instruction can get together. In order 
to meet this condition regular schools are housed in school 
houses, buildings especially constructed to afford such meeting 
places. In such buildings we find school rooms, assembly 
halls, gymnasium, laboratories, etc. 

In the same way, for the work of the training department 
some place must be provided for the getting together of the 
instructor and the gang under instruction. 

In considering this place problem the untrained instructor 
often thinks in terms of the general school; he thinks of school 
rooms, lecture rooms, etc., because he naturally thinks of his 
own school experience, and, if he is to be a "teacher" he 
thinks of his job as being the same as the job of the teacher 
that he went to school to in his younger days. He thinks of 
conducting " classes, " in " school rooms, " of using text books, 
of lecturing to his men, of giving "courses'* of instruction; in 
general because students in the regular school are put in a 
special place to get their "schooling" he thinks of doing his 
work away from the job and by regular school methods, and 
tends to plan his organization accordingly, thus to a greater 
or less extent copying the organization of the regular school. 
In this he falls to take into account the totally different aim 
and the necessary working conditions that must be set up as 
between regular school work and trade training. 

" Place Organization " in a Training Department. With 
the possible exception of certain "trade extension work" as 
discussed elsewhere in these notes it is extremely improbable 
that any of the ordinary training will be carried on anywhere 
except in the shops. There will be no "school room"; all 
instruction will be given on the job y that is, each lesson that 
has been laid down in the order of instruction as determined 
by the instructor must be put over to a man in connection 
with the doing of a job that approximately meets the specifica- 
tions of the type job for that particular stage of the learner's 
progression through the instructional order of jobs. The 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL GANG 223 

instructor will have no opportunity to sit in a chair behind a 
desk and talk to a group in front of him who are also in chairs; 
he and his men will be out in the yard, or in the shop, turning 
out jobs, but turning them out for purposes of instruction. 
If the instructor finds that it is necessary to give some instruc- 
tion to his men and the noise is such that he cannot make 
himself heard, it is highly probable that he can only expect 
to be able to find some relatively quiet place somewhere in the 
shop where he can put over what he wishes to teach. The 
lee side of a building or the corner of the shop is about all 
the "place" facilities that he can expect. 

Under these conditions it is evident that the organization 
of the regular school which is based on the carrying on of the 
instruction "inside," away from the actual production work 
(where such training is given, as in most school shops), will 
not work at all, and a totally different organization, much 
more like the organization of a working gang must be developed. 

The effective organization for the sort of training condi- 
tions required by industrial training must therefore provide 
for the bringing together of instructor and instructional gang 
under practically the same conditions as for a production 
gang, so far as the place question goes, and the instructor must 
so organize his group with regard to this factor that good 
work in instruction can be done under these conditions. 
That is, the "school room" will be the yard or shop and the 
"school book" will be the job. 

Exceptions to the Above Statement. The above statements 
apply, of course, mainly to job training. Under some con- 
ditions, in trade extension work, a close approximation to 
inside conditions is possible. 

C. ORGANIZATION FOR GETTING THE GANG TOGETHER 

Organization for Making up the Gang (Admission.) 
This part of the organization will deal mainly with provision 
for taking the man into the instructional gang. Under the 
conditions that will exist in job training it is extremely im- 
probable that a gang can be given to an instructor so that all 
can start together. It is more probable that, as men are hired 



24 THE INSTRUCTOR 

by the employment department they will be put into training 
and turned into a gang for that trade which happens to have 
a vacancy. This means that the organization of the gang, 
so far as admission goes, must be based on what is called 
clastic admission; that is, the instructor must be able to take on 
a man at any time and start him on the training course with- 
out regard to where any of the rest of the group are on their 
progression through the same course. This means that the 
instructor will have in his group men in all stages of progres- 
sion, that he will be discharging men any time on the comple- 
tion of their training and that he will organize so that he can 
take in new men whenever he has a vacancy. 

Of course the organization of the regular school which is 
intended to deal with exactly the reverse situation (admis- 
sions at stated times only) will not work at all, and the in- 
structor who has the regular school organization in mind 
will find himself unable to organize for effective work under 
industrial conditions unless he breaks entirely away from such 
notions. 

Organization for Elastic Admission. So far as organization 
for admission goes it must be based upon the principle of 
elastic admission and not on the principle of admission at 
fixed intervals. 

It is, of course, possible that in large plants it might be 
possible to organize for admission say three times a week, 
but this would only be true in cases where the number of 
instructing groups was so large that a man could be taken 
into some group on any day. An organization as to admission 
that assumes that a man will stand around for several days 
or a week waiting to get into a training section will not work, 
nor is it proper that that amount of the man's time should be 
lost; time is too valuable; every day of time that is lost, even 
with one man, slows up production. 

D. ORGANIZATION TO SECURE PROPER INSTRUCTIONAL 

CONDITIONS 

Proper Instructional Conditions: Organization. In order 
that effective instruction can be carried on the group must be 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL GANG 225 

organized in some way. In general it may be said that 
there are three well known methods of organizing a group for 
instructional work : (a) Class Instruction; (b) Group Instruc- 
tion; (c) Individual Instruction. Class Instruction is the 
condition usually found in general schools (High Schools, 
Grammar Schools, Colleges) and, in general, is the least 
efficient condition under which teaching may be carried on in 
industrial training. Group instruction is seldom found in 
general schools, but is often found in some forms of industrial 
training, and has some value in shop training. Individual in- 
struction is rarely found in general schools, but is often the 
only effective device in practical instruction (as in instruction 
on production work) . An instructor should be familiar with all 
of these three methods, although he is likely to work mostly 
with the last two. 

Class Organization: The Class as Distinguished from the 
Teaching Group. In the strictly school sense the term 
"class" means a group of pupils assigned to an instructor. 
Its use does not imply any special method of organization for 
instruction. From the standpoint of organization for in- 
struction, the term class is also often used to mean a group 
which are to be simultaneously taught the same lesson. This 
double use of the term leads to so much confusion that it is 
better to use the term "instruction group" when referring to 
the group of learners assigned to an instructor and confine 
the use of the term class to its meaning in connection with 
organization from the standpoint of instruction. 

Conditions under which Instruction may be Given: Class 
Organization. In class teaching all pupils are assumed to be 
taught the same thing at the same time. In theory they are 
all assumed to know the same things, to have the same knowl- 
edge, or to be able to do the same thing at the time of the 
particular lesson. Thus a class of fifteen men, all of whom 
knew how to run a miller and none of whom knew how to set 
an index head, might be simultaneously taught how to per- 
form this operation. Or a group of girls, all of whom knew 
how to sew, might be simultaneously taught how to make a 
button hole. In all cases of class instruction the characteristic 



226 THE INSTRUCTOR 

is that, as illustrated above, every pupil is assumed to be 
taught the same thing at the same time. Efficient class organiza- 
tion must therefore meet the following theoretical conditions, 
and will be effective in proportion as it meets them in practice : 

(1) All pupils must know the same things when they come 
into the class. 

(2) All pupils must be taught the same new things during 
that lesson (same teaching unit). 

(3) All pupils must leave the class with the same additional 
amount of knowledge or training. 

Organization for Instruction : Group Organization. Group 
organization differs from class organization in that it is not 
assumed that all learners are to be taught the same thing at 
the same time, but that the whole gang consists of sub groups, 
and that the members of each sub group can be instructed in 
the same thing at the same time. Thus an instructional group 
of fifteen men might consist of three sub groups of 7, 5, and 
3 men and it would be assumed that the instructor would 
teach one lesson to sub group 1, another lesson to sub group 
2, and a third to sub group 3, and that he can carry on the 
work with all three groups at the same time. 

It is not assumed that the membership of these sub groups 
will remain the same from day to day, or that the same number 
of groups, or the same number of men in the different sub 
groups will remain constant. That is, the instructor forms 
groups as he happens to find men in the same stage of pro- 
gression, and simply takes advantage of such a situation 
when it happens to occur. 

Efficient organization for group instruction must therefore 
meet the following conditions and will be efficient as it does 
deal effectively with them in practice. 

1. Sub groups must be found wherein all members have 
reached the same stage of progression in the instruction 
program. 

2. All members of the group must be ready for the next 
lesson at the same time. 

3. All learners leave the lesson for that particular sub group 
with the same additional amount of knowledge or training. 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL GANG 227 

Whenever use can be made of temporary groups time 
and energy are, of course, saved, since it does not take as 
much time to instruct a group of men as it would to instruct 
each individually, and the total expenditure of energy by the 
instructor will not be so great. Instructors should therefore be 
on the lookout for chances to work in the group organization 
and the organization should permit of this being done when- 
ever it appears that it can be done to advantage. 

In order that effective use may be made of the method 
of group organization it is evident that an instructor must 
keep a very careful record of the progress of each of his men 
on the course of instruction that he has prepared, and when he 
finds that certain men happen to have reached the same 
stage of progression, bring them into a group for the next 
piece of instrumental work. Unless this is done of course 
the organization fails entirely; groups are not properly made 
up and the work suffers accordingly. 

Conditions under which Instruction may be Given : Organi- 
zation for Individual Instruction. Organization for individual 
instruction differs from organization for class or group in- 
struction in that it is assumed that no two men are instructed 
in the same lesson at the same time, so that the instruc- 
tion group merely consists of a number of learners assigned 
to that particular instructor for instruction, each individual 
to be instructed as a unit, without regard to any other in- 
dividual. This means that a different instruction unit must 
be simultaneously put over to each individual learner, and 
that the instructor occupies essentially the position of a fore- 
man who is bossing a gang of men each of which is on a different 
job, or is at a different stage on the same job. 

Under this organization the instructor must evidently 
carry on as many lessons as there are men in his group, and, 
if new men are continually coming in and instructed men 
going out, these individual lessons may cover any stage from 
the most elementary to the most advanced teaching units 
that are laid out in the instructional order. 

Evidently for efficient individual instruction the instructor 
must know where each man is on the course of instruction, 
so that he can assign the next job in the proper relation to 



228 THE INSTRUCTOR 

what the man has already had. It is also evident that under 
these conditions there is no assumption that the work of any 
one man is in any way connected with the work of any other 
man, so that the instructor is in no way concerned with the 
progress of his men as regards each other. Under these 
conditions problems of admission and of progression are 
reduced to a minimum. 

Efficient teaching conditions for individual instruction 
exist (1) where the teaching group is small enough to enable 
individual attention to be given to each learner. (2) Where 
the subjects of the lessons can best be taught individually 
(as in production work). (3) Where the instructor is skillful 
enough to successfully handle a reasonably large group by 
this method. 

Organization for Progression : The Time Factor. So far as 
organization is concerned, the question of the different speeds 
with which men progress can be met in two ways. By one 
method the .organization can be based on the notion that the 
man will be given a fixed amount of time, in which he can 
either go as far as he can, or can "get what he can" as it is 
often put. This is essentially the method of the regular school; 
classes are carried for a given period. The difficulty with this 
organization so far as trade training is concerned is that, if a 
man is to be taught to do a job he must be entirely taught, so 
that he can do that job, not half taught, or two-thirds taught, 
but entirely taught. If the fixed time interval is used, a 
slow man can be thoroughly taught fewer jobs than a fast 
man, but he must be thoroughly taught what he is taught. 
The quantity of instruction can be reduced, but the quality 
cannot be cut down and still do the training job. 

The method of organizing to deal with the matter of unequal 
progression that will best meet the needs of emergency training 
is undoubtedly that that provides/for keeping the learner in 
the course until he is completely trained according to the 
"requisition for training" in his case, rather than in only 
partially filling the requisition in order to make time even. 

Organization for Efficient Progression. No matter what the 
organization for getting the gang. together, it will be composed 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL GANG 229 

of men who will progress through the instructional order at 
different rates. Even if they all started together, they will 
soon be strung out all along the line. 

Evidently there must be included in the organization for 
working conditions some provision for dealing with the matter 
of unequal progression. Under the class organization, no 
provision is made to meet this condition; the fundamental 
assumption is that all learners will progress at the same rate, 
and no class organization can be worked out in practice on 
any other assumption. That is, the class organization is 
based on an assumption that everybody knows is not correct. 
It is true that, given a carefully selected group to start with, 
and more or less special help by the instructor, so that the 
" advance guard" can be held back a little and the "rear 
guard" jacked up, some approximation to equal progress can 
be maintained, but it is even then extremely difficult, and, 
under the conditions existing in shop training practically 
impossible to secure effective "progression control" with a 
class organization. The group organization offers but little 
more prospect of success. The only practical organization 
that will enable 'the instructor to maintain good "progression 
control" is to organize for individual instruction. Under 
this organization the differences of the men in their progression 
due to entrance at different times, with different powers of 
taking in the instruction, with different degrees of education, 
are easily taken care of. The organization for individual 
instruction is therefore the only one that offers hopes of 
success in the ordinary work of training and is the only one 
that should be used under ordinary circumstances to meet 
the problems caused by the certain unequal progression of the 
different men in the instruction gang. 

Where the Class Organization will Work the Best. Under 
industrial training conditions the only place where the class 
organization will be of service is possibly in some forms of 
trade extension work for advanced men. Thus, for example, 
if it were desired to give all the shipfitters in a yard the 
standard method of marking templets, and that was all that 
it was desired to give them, this work might be effectively done 
under the class organization. It is not probable, however, 



30 THE INSTRUCTOR 

that the class organization will find much place in the work of 
training in industrial plants. It will certainly find no place 
in the training of green men; it may have some value in certain 
cases in the giving of conversion training, but, as stated above, 
it is most likely to be of service in trade extension work on 
technical jobs, or in passing out technical information to 
advanced men on a trade extension basis. 

Where the Group Organization will Work the Best. The 
group organization will w^ork the best where the work happens 
to be of such a character that a number of men can be simul- 
taneously instructed on a given teaching unit. This is most 
likely to happen in instruction on relatively simple jobs, and 
possibly in handling technical rather than production jobs. 
It is not probable however that, as a form of organization it 
will find much place in organization for industrial training. 
It is, of course, an attempt to combine the good points of 
both the method of class and of individual instructional 
organization. Conditions seldom arise in practice where 
it can be successfully worked out, and it is not a type of 
organization that the average instructor will find of much 
service except for the special cases noted above. It is pro- 
bably more difficult to work effectively in practice than 
either of the two other organizations discussed in this section. 

Individual Instruction. Individual instruction always seems 
the most difficult to the untrained instructor but in reality, 
lends itself the best to efficient training. Under the con- 
ditions that usually exist in shop training it is the only 
method of organization that promises efficient results. If the 
group is organized for individual instruction no difficulties 
as to admission or relative speed of progress come up, each 
man is dealing with the instructor and has no concern as to the 
work of any other man, nor has the instructor, in instructing 
any one man any need to consider the work of any other man. 
The greatest problem for the instructor in working under 
this type of organization is to so dovetail in the different 
lessons that he has to teach, and to so arrange the work, 
that while he is putting over say, step 1 with one man, the 
other men in the group are on steps 3 or 4 in their respective 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL GANG 231 

lessons. Unless the gang is too large, this can be done however 
with a careful progression control and with good distribution. 

So far as efficiency goes there is no question; if each man 
can be instructed individually, the time required for training 
will be greatly reduced, the man will be much better trained, 
the work will be much better done. This is the organization 
that should be adopted for the general run of instructional work. 

The Rotating Gang. Undoubtedly the best organization 
for meeting the requirements of a training department is one 
that provides for what may be called the rotating gang, that 
is, the organization is such that an instructor always has a 
group of the same size; as soon as a man is discharged from the 
group another man comes in, so that the group consists of 
men in all stages of progression, but is always full. 

This organization evidently provides the best conditions 
so far as expense for instruction goes; of course it can 
only be carried out when the group is organized for individual 
instruction. 

E. ORGANIZATION FOR DISCHARGING FROM THE GANG 

Organization for Discharging Men from the Gang. The 
organization should make possible the discharge of a man 
from the gang as soon as he has completed his training and 
the instructor is ready to O. K. him out of the training work. 
If the work is organized for individual instruction this is easy, 
and no question will come up. Under class organization how- 
ever, the man must be held until the class is through, or 
the instructor will find himself with a gradually diminishing 
group until he is left with only one man to work with, which, 
is, of course, an unduly expensive situation. 

The General Conditions that Affect the Size of a Training 
Gang. The more an instructor distributes himself the thinner 
he must spread out his instruction, the less attention he can 
give to any one man, the more chance there is for waiting 
around and for the development of conditions that will reduce 
interest. The less men an instructor has in his gang, the 
more he can concentrate, the more intense can he make his 
instruction and the less chance will there be of lost motion and 



32 THE INSTRUCTOR 

general drop in interest. Below a certain point however the 
instructor will not be entirely occupied. If he were training 
one man alone there would be a good many times when he 
would be standing around waiting for the learner to do some- 
thing before he could go on with the instruction. Evidently 
an instructor who only has one man in his gang could handle 
more men and not lower the efficiency of his work. It is 
equally evident that if an instructor undertook to instruct a 
thousand men in one gang he could do no instructional work 
at all. This is, there is a maximum and a minimum size to 
the group that can be effectively handled by an instructor at 
one time. Among the more important factors that affect 
the size of a class for good instructional conditions are the 
character of the trade, the working conditions, the class of the 
work and the sort of men that are to be instructed. 

This problem corresponds in a general way to what is 
called the "economical steaming speed" of a ship. If she 
goes too slow and so takes too much time to make her voyage, 
too much coal will be burned per mile ; if she is driven too fast, 
she will get there sooner, but the coal consumption will be so 
greatly increased that, in spite of the decreased time required 
for the voyage, the coal bill will also be too much per mile. 

It is always possible to find a speed at which these two 
factors, time and coal consumption per mile balance up so 
that the cost of coal per mile is reduced to the minimum. 
This is the economical speed. 

In the same way the general tendency of increasing the 
size of a class above the effective minimum is to slow down the 
speed of instruction, that is, the larger the group the longer 
it will take to put a given man in the group through the course 
of training. In the same general way it can be said that the 
smaller the gang down to the effective minimum the more 
rapid will be the instructional speed. The problem is to find 
the "economical size" for a given course of instruction. 

Some details of these points are discussed in the following 
paragraphs: 

Size of the Gang as Affected by the Sort of Men that are to 
be Instructed. A training plan may have to deal with any or 
all of three classes of men; trade extension men, conversion 



THE ORGANIZATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONAL GANG 233 

men and green men, and the detailed meaning of these terms 
have already been given. It is sufficient here to point out that 
a trade extension man is a man who already knows considerable 
about his trade and a conversion man knows all about his own 
trade but little or nothing about the trade to which he is to be 
converted, while the green man knows nothing of any trade. 
Under these conditions it is evident that trade extension 
men can be handled in larger gangs than conversion men, 
and conversion men in larger gangs than green men, always, 
of course, with regard to the other factors that have been 
discussed. 

It is also true that in trade extension work it is often possible 
to handle relatively large groups when the men are well ad- 
vanced and the character of the instruction is largely technical, 
as in the case of work with second class steam engineers work- 
ing for a first class license. Probably in such a case from 
twenty to twenty-five men could be successfully handled, 
but this is an extreme case. 

Effective Size of Gangs as Affected by the Working Condi- 
tions. Even in the same trade the working conditions will 
affect the size of the effective gang. During some portions 
of the instructional course it may be necessary to distribute 
the men so widely that the instructor could not exercise proper 
supervision over a gang of a certain size, possibly of a smaller 
size than in other parts of the course. For example, this 
might be true in training in house carpentry, where, in order to 
get work for different men that fitted to the type job specifica- 
tions for their individual checking levels, it might be necessary 
to put one man on the roof, another in the attic, another on the 
cellar stairs, or in a machine shop where men might have to 
be put on widely distributed jobs on account of the way in 
which the machines were grouped. The possibility of such 
situations coming up in connection with the working condi- 
tions that go with that particular trade must be taken into 
consideration in determining the effective working size of the 
gang for that trade. 

Effective Size of Gangs as Affected by the Character of the 
Trade. Experience has shown that the character of the trade 



234 THE INSTRUCTOR 

that is to be taught affects the "economical group size." 
Where jobs are simple and the men in the gang can be con- 
centrated more men can be economically handled than where 
the reverse conditions prevail. For example, more men could 
probably be efficiently handled in training machinists or 
printers than in training sheet metal workers. So far as avail- 
able experience up to date bears on the problem it is pretty well 
established that, in no case, can an instructor handle a gang 
of more than ten men efficiently, and in many cases the actual 
training output will be increased if the number is held down 
to not over five or six; much larger groups can often be handled 
in trade extension work. 

The Instructor and the Size of Gangs. In general an in- 
experienced instructor does not sufficiently study his problem 
in order to know how large a gang he can handle for economical 
instructional work, but he almost always thinks that he can 
handle a larger gang than he really can, or he thinks that he 
cannot handle as large a gang as he can. He is either ready 
to take on more men than he has or he wants men taken out 
of his gang so that it will be smaller. He does not take into 
account the factors just discussed and so fails to see why he 
cannot handle twenty men just as well as ten, or he thinks 
that he can only handle two men when, with the proper 
organization and management he could handle seven or eight. 

The trained instructor will study his problem intelligently, 
will take into consideration all the factors that apply, and will 
base such recommendations as he may make on a scientific 
study of the conditions. 



CHAPTER XXXIV 

INSTRUCTIONAL CONDITIONS AS THEY ARE AF- 
FECTED BY SURROUNDINGS AND MATERIAL 

Preliminary. This chapter discusses some of the considera- 
tions to which an instructor must give attention in planning 
his work, first with regard to the surroundings in which the 
work is to be done and second, with respect to the special 
material that he proposes to use. 

POSSIBLE INSTRUCTING CONDITIONS 

" Inside Work " and " Outside Work." According to the 
trade for which training is to be given instructional work may 
be carried on either under cover or out of doors, that is, it may 
be "inside work" or "outside work." Inside work may be 
carried on either in some place especially provided for that 
purpose (a "school room") or on the floor of the shop. We 
may therefore have: 

(1) Inside Work. 

(a) Shop work. 

(b) "Class room" work. 

(2) Outside Work. 

General Characteristics of " Inside Work." In general in 
inside work the instructor has relatively few conditions that 
are entirely out of his control. For example, weather condi- 
tions do not appreciably affect the work, in the shop such 
equipment as may be available for instruction "stays put," 
the instructor can depend upon its being there when it is 
wanted. 

As between the shop and the class room however, the con- 
trol of instructional conditions as to surroundings and material 
is much better in the class room than in the shop. The shop 

235 



236 THE INSTRUCTOR 

(unless it is operated especially for training, as in trade schools) 
is operated for production, not instruction, while a class room 
can be fitted up for instructional purposes only. In general 
it may be said that a class room and, in a less degree a shop, 
offer the following general characteristics: 

(1) Instruction can be carried on independently of weather 
conditions. 

(2) Relatively quiet conditions can be obtained. (Some 
shops and all class rooms.) 

(3) Learners are physically comfortable. (Not cold or wet, 
under ordinary circumstances.) 

(4) The group can be concentrated around the instructor. 
(Some shops, all class rooms.) 

(5) Special demonstration and illustrative material can 
be set up and kept in place as long as desired. (All 
rooms, some shops.) 

General Characteristics of " Outside Work." As contrasted 
with inside work, outside work offers the following general 
characteristics : 

(1) It is affected by weather conditions. 

(2) In many cases there is much noise. 

(3) Learners may be physically uncomfortable (may be 
cold, wet, or in uncomfortable or cramped positions). 

(4) The group may be more or less distributed. 

(5) Special demonstration and illustrative material can 
rarely be permanently set up and kept in place as long 
as desired. 

As will be more fully discussed later, these conditions affect 
the selection of methods and the determination of the best 
surroundings for a given type of instructional work, and must 
be taken into consideration by the instructor in planning his 
training management. This may even be true in some cases, 
for some one lesson or even for certain steps in a given lesson. 

The Two Kinds of Work Compared. As an example con- 
sider training in printing and in house carpentry. In the 
printing shop there is an almost unobstructed view so that 



SURROUNDINGS AND MATERIAL 237 

supervision is easy, the instructional material is largely presses, 
type cases, paper, etc., and the men are under cover. Weather 
does not interrupt the work. The instructor can be sure of 
being able to carry out his plans from day to day. He can 
handle a relatively large group effectively. 

In house carpentry the men may be concealed even from 
each other, may be scattered, material is more complicated 
(timbers, planks, stagings, etc.). An instructor in printing 
has a very different problem to handle from that of an in- 
structor in house carpentry. His work may be interrupted 
any time by bad weather, his instruction may be given in all 
parts of the house, according to the distribution of his men. 
He can only handle a small group effectively. Supervision is 
difficult. 

Or against either of these examples take the case of a trade 
extension group under instruction on blueprint reading as it 
might be conducted in a class room. Material is simple 
(largely blueprints and diagrams) and can be kept on the wall 
as long as is necessary, the room is quiet, the men can sit in 
chairs or at tables in perfect comfort. The instructor can 
bunch the group as much as he desires. Here again we have a 
very different problem for the instructor than that of the 
instructor in printing or in house carpentry. 

Relative Advantages and Disadvantages of Shop or Outside 
Conditions vs. Class Room Conditions. Evidently, under 
"inside" conditions, so far as surroundings go, the instructor 
has an easier job than under "outside" conditions. The "in- 
side" man can group his class; hence his supervision is easier, 
he can depend on keeping his work going regardless of weather 
conditions. In the class room he can use models and demon- 
stration material, if their use seems desirable. As against this, 
the outside or shop instructor must instruct under working 
conditions, he must instruct on production materials on out- 
side work; he and his men are exposed to the weather as much 
as are the regular working force. Sometimes he must "fight" 
against noise or other factors that distract attention. He 
unquestionably has the harder instructing job, in the sense 
that his surroundings are more likely to make his work difficult 
unless he plans in advance to take care of them. 



238 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The Effect of this on the Attitude of the Instructor. The 
greater difficulties that must be surmounted in outside work 
make many untrained instructors tend to look for the "easiest 
way*' and so tend to steadily shift from outside conditions to 
inside conditions. For example, an instructor in house car- 
pentry or brick laying finds that his men cannot be "bunched," 
that hammering on construction work going on near his job 
makes talking difficult. Often the only solution of the diffi- 
culty that he will suggest is to get his group off the real 
jobs and either give them fake jobs (exercise), or even get 
them into a class room and lecture to them. He sees that 
it would be easier for him but forgets or does not know that 
his instruction will be either much less efficient or that it 
will have no value at all. A man of the right type is al- 
ways thinking how he can minimize these difficulties and in- 
struct his men on the job where the instruction can be most 
efficiently given. In the end, a man of the first type usually 
fails as an instructor and a man of the second type usually 
succeeds. 

When the Good Instructor Will Use Inside Work. The 
efficient instructor will only substitute inside instruction for 
instruction that should be given outside when it is clearly 
evident that, in view of all the circumstances, it is the way to 
get the most effective instructional surroundings. In general, 
any departure from actual working surroundings in the shop 
or on outside work results in a loss of instructional efficiency. 
Special cases may, of course, arise, where part of a lesson on 
"outside" work can best be given under "inside" conditions, 
but this should only be assumed to be true after careful study 
of the problem, and a determination that inside conditions are, 
under the special circumstances, clearly the best for the sort of 
instruction that it is planned to give. 

The good instructor on work that is regularly carried on in 
the shop or on "the outside" will therefore always start with 
the theory that his instructional job is to be done in the shop, 
or on the outside, as the case may be, and will only be " driven " 
into the class room as a "last resort," while the poor instructor, 
working on exactly the reverse theory, is "driven" to the 
class room from the shop, at the first difficulty. The first 



SURROUNDINGS AND MATERIAL 239 

insists on "going out" or "staying out," if he is out; the 
second insists on "coming in." 

Need of Ingenuity and " Pep " to Stay out. The instructor 
will need both ingenuity and "pep" if he "stays out" as long 
as he can. He must keep thinking in advance about getting 
suitable surroundings, and make every effort to secure them 
for his group. He faces the necessary surroundings that go 
with his teaching job when it is done right, and uses fore- 
thought and ingenuity in dealing with those surroundings so 
that he can do his instructing job effectively. There are very 
few cases where it is necessary to take "outside " work " inside " 
if sufficient forethought and careful planning are used in 
arranging for the work, though, of course, under some condi- 
tions, cases might occur where, as a temporary measure some 
lesson or part of a lesson (most probably steps 1 and 2) might 
be taken away from the place where the rest of the lesson was 
to be carried out (probably steps 3 and 4). 

The Type of Work as Affecting the Surroundings. It is 
pointed out elsewhere that training in any plant may have to 
deal with any or all of three classes of work, training green 
men, training men on a conversion basis and giving trade 
extension work, though in many cases this latter form of in- 
struction will probably be of minor importance. Each of these 
three types of instruction offers certain possibilities as to the 
best instructional surroundings, and these are discussed in the 
following paragraphs. 

Surroundings in the Training Department: Trade Exten- 
sion Work. Trade extension work consists largely either in 
giving auxiliary knowledge, instructing in technical jobs, or 
instructing in special operations on an individual basis. This 
third case will apply almost entirely to shop trades and can, 
of course, be given only in the shop. The giving of auxiliary 
information can, however, often be given effectively in the 
class room. This is particularly true of relatively well ad- 
vanced men, in fact work of this sort is sometimes given with a 
very considerable degree of effectiveness in evening classes 
entirely outside of the plant. 

Instruction in technical jobs can. to a less degree be effec- 



240 THE INSTRUCTOR 

lively handled in the same way, because such jobs are often 
carried on under cover in surroundings that can be practically 
duplicated in a class room, and because, with well advanced 
men, methods of illustration will sometimes work fairly well. 

Surroundings in the Training Department: Conversion 
Work. Conversion work offers two distinct training prob- 
lems: such men nearly always need a considerable amount of 
auxiliary knowledge of the trade into which they are going, 
and, in some cases, a portion of this can be given in the class 
room. On the other hand such men also need more or less 
experience on jobs, and these can only be given under actual 
working conditions, on the job. On the whole the general 
tendency is to use the class room too much in conversion work, 
and consequently to use less efficient methods of instruction. In 
order to handle these men under "inside" conditions they are 
tpld when they should find out for themselves, they are shown 
diagrams or models when the real things are available and could 
be used if the work were carried on outside of the class room. 

Methods of doing jobs are described to them when they 
should learn by doing the jobs themselves. This tendency to 
handle conversion work too much in the class room should be 
carefully guarded against and the class room only used when it 
is evident that it furnishes the best surroundings for the par- 
ticular form of instructional work in hand. 

Surroundings in the Training Department: Green Men. 
In the case of the training of green men there is but little 
opportunity for the use of the class room. They must be 
trained under the same conditions that they will work under 
in production work; if the training is in shop trades, they must 
be trained in the shop; if in outside trades, they must be 
trained outside. This is for two reasons: first, the instruction 
should be given on jobs and the auxiliary material tied up with 
the different jobs, as described in Part VI, Chapter II, and 
second, because, the green man, having behind him no ex- 
perience in the trade, as has the trade extension man, or an 
experience in a trade, as has the conversion man, must be 
trained to work under real working conditions from the start, 
if instructional bases are to be established. 



SURROUNDINGS AND MATERIAL 241 

The surroundings for the training of the green man will 
therefore be those of his prospective jobs, and there will be no 
use for the class room in this case. The only exception to this 
statement might be in the case of the passing out of some of 
the general information not connected with the direct trade 
training. 

The General Question of Instructional Material. Instruc- 
tional material means anything that is used in the in- 
structional process. Books, tools, machines, stock, models, 
diagrams, demonstration apparatus and even in some cases, 
other men are all instructional material. If a man is under 
instruction in lathe work, the lathe, the tools, the blueprint, 
the stock are all a part of the instructional material for that 
particular instructing job. If a man is to be instructed on 
some one man's work on a gang job (say riveting) and the 
other men in the gang know their jobs (say in riveting, the 
heater, the passer and the holder-on) these other men may 
be considered as a part of the instructional material. If a boy 
in a regular school is studying his Latin lesson, his book, his 
dictionary, his paper and pencil are all a part of the instruc- 
tional material that is put into use in connection with the 
teaching of that lesson. 

The matter of the character of the instructional material 
that is required for the effective putting over of different types 
of lessons, and for different types of learners is discussed in the 
following paragraphs. 

INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL 

Possible Kinds of Instructional Material. Instructional 
material may be of several kinds. These may be designated as: 

1. Demonstration material. 

2. Illustrative material. 

3. Working material. 

4. General material. 

Demonstration and illustrative material is material that 
would be used in connection with the putting over of a lesson 
by the use of either demonstration or illustration. It includes 

16 



242 THE INSTRUCTOR 

such articles as pictures, charts, diagrams, models, etc., for 
use in illustration, and any real working materials, such as 
machines, tools, etc., that might be used in connection with 
the method of demonstration. Working material is any 
material that is used in doing a productive instructional job; 
where a man is trained on a production job, the working 
equipment, etc., constitute working material. Where a man 
is trained in a machine shop, the machine on which he works, 
the stock that he works up, the special tools that he uses, all 
form a part of the working material. 

General material is material that is of general use in instruc- 
tional work but that does not especially apply to the require- 
ments of any particular teaching job. Blackboards, reference 
books, etc., would belong to this class of instructional material. 

For convenience we will characterize all material except 
working material as non-productive instructional material. 

The following paragraphs discuss some of the questions 
that may come up in connection with the choice and the use 
of the different sorts of material in connection with the work 
of an instructor in a training department. 

Some Characteristics of Non-Productive Instructional 
Material. Non-productive instructional material is not 
usually found in connection with the equipment of a produc- 
tion plant. So far as it is used it must be purchased or made, 
either by the instructor, or according to his specifications. 

But little of this material can be purchased to advantage: 
the sort of instructional material that is on the market has 
been mostly prepared for general school or technical school 
work and will not serve the needs of this sort of training. With 
the exception of some of the more common general equipment, 
such as blackboards, a few good reference books, note books, 
etc., there is little that will be of value on the market in the 
general run of instructional material of this class. This point 
is emphasized because, especially in trade extension work, 
instructors often wish to buy instruction material of the stand- 
ard type that is used in schools or colleges. Such material is 
usually of very little value because it is generally made to 
meet the needs of courses in general education, general science, 
etc., and does not meet the requirements of specialized trade 



SURROUNDINGS AND MATERIAL 243 

training. Where demonstration material is to be used the 
most effective sort will be that made by the instructor or 
designed by him to meet the needs of the particular lesson for 
which it is to be used. 

Written or Printed Instructional Material. In many cases 
written or printed material can be used to advantage, but 
nearly all such material must be prepared especially for the 
special conditions, and hence is only of value when prepared 
by the instructor who uses it. Such material is chiefly of 
value with advanced men in steps 2 and 3 in the lesson. If it 
can be used it saves a portion of the time of the instructor 
and so has value, but the over use of material of this kind 
should be carefully guarded against, and it should only be 
used when it is very certain that it can actually be used to 
advantage. 

The Right Kind of Non-Productive Instructional Material. 
Where models, diagrams, or special pieces of demonstration 
apparatus are used, they will be effective in proportion as they 
are simple and employ articles or are based upon ideas with 
which the men are already familiar. The less the appearance 
or complication of the demonstration or illustrative material 
distracts the attention of the man from what is being put over, 
the better. Two pieces of joist, hinged together at the top 
with their bottoms on two pieces of gas pipe can be used to 
illustrate the use of a tie rod better than it can be put over 
with a small, elaborately constructed piece of apparatus. 

The Wrong Kind of Non-Productive Instructional Material. 
Complicated pieces of apparatus, text books unsuited to 
the work, over elaborate charts or diagrams are examples of 
the sort of instructional materials that should be avoided. 
Some instructors seem to feel that the use of such material 
indicates that they are very efficient; as a matter of fact, it 
generally indicates the contrary. 

Instructional Material for Different Types of Learners. 
As in other cases, the type of learner, whether trade extension, 
conversion or green man, affects the relative use of the different 
classes of instructional material and the following paragraphs 
discuss some of the more important points in this connection. 



244 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Instructional Material in Trade Extension Work. There 
is probably a considerable use for non-productive instructional 
material in this class of work. As already pointed out, men 
of this type often require more auxiliary knowledge than 
"job" knowledge. They have a large amount of experience 
behind them, and so can be more effectively instructed by 
methods of illustration or demonstration than any other type 
of learner. It is in this work that the instructor will find the 
greatest field for the development and use of non-productive 
special instructional material, especially for illustrative ma- 
terial of special kinds or of charts and diagrams. 

Non-Productive Instructional Material in the Training 
Department: Conversion Work. Conversion work may also 
offer opportunities for the use of non-productive instructional 
material but to a less extent than in trade extension work. 
The conversion man is, up to a certain point learning a new 
trade and, to that extent, is in the same situation as the green 
man. He needs training on actual jobs and instruction under 
production conditions. In giving auxiliary information about 
the new trade special non-productive instructional material 
may find a place under some conditions as when the different 
kinds of shipyard rivets are charted out in "converting" 
structural steel men or certain diagrams are used in giving out 
information as to location terms or when lists of terms used 
in the new trade are prepared. 

Non-Productive Instructional Material in the Training 
Department: Green Men. There is but little field for the 
use of non-productive instructional material in the training 
of green men under ordinary conditions. These men must be 
practically trained entirely on the job, must get their auxiliary 
information on the job, hence in the general run of such work 
all instructional material will be productive. 



CHAPTER XXXV 
HOW SURROUNDINGS AFFECT INSTRUCTION 

The Instructor must take Material and Surroundings into 
Account. Evidently the instructor in planning a lesson must 
take both material and surroundings into consideration. If 
he were going to put over a lesson on a shop job (say, in a 
machine shop) he would know, that under these conditions, 
he could work under cover, that there would be relatively little 
noise to interfere; that his men could be easily supervised on 
the shop floor, etc., so that he would take these facts into con- 
sideration. On the other hand, suppose he were going to put 
over a lesson in drop forging, he would know that supervision 
would be more difficult; that disturbing factors might be more 
prominent (noise, etc.), and would not, for example, plan to 
use methods that would require much talking. Again, in 
forging, the question of available equipment might affect the 
situation; for example, he might undertake to put over his 
lesson in a forge shop where only a few drop forges were avail- 
able and so fall down on his application, whereas he might 
have planned to put over steps 1 and 2 in some quiet part of 
the plant where one special machine might be installed for 
that part of the lesson, and then, for steps 3 and 4 (where 
noise, etc., would not make so much difference) shift to some 
other part of the plant where enough machines could be used 
to admit of all the men on that particular lesson being given 
steps 3 and 4 with sufficient equipment. All such things would 
affect the speed and efficiency with which he was able to put 
over the lesson, and so should be taken into consideration in 
advance. 

How Material and Surroundings Affect Choice of Method 
in Putting Over a Lesson. While it is true in general that 
the demonstration is the best method for step 2, it may be 
that other methods can be used in certain cases. Sometimes 

245 



246 THE INSTRUCTOR 

available material will affect choice of method. An instructor 
may be forced to adopt a less effective method owing to there 
being no material for the more effective method available. 
As where he is obliged to use pictures or diagrams in instruct- 
ing in the control of a machine, or in the methods of its opera- 
tion. Of course this is bad practice and would only be followed 
in case of necessity. 

How "Inside Work" Affects Instructional Methods. 
Inside work gives a better chance for the carrying on of work 
by what may be called "standardized" methods. The in- 
structor on this type of work will have to exercise less ingenuity 
in meeting unexpected situations than will the man on outside 
work. In class-room work with trade extension men and to 
some extent with conversion men he can make considerable 
use of non-productive instructional material. If he deems it 
wise, or has to meet a temporary situation he can, with rela- 
tively less loss of efficiency use methods other than demonstra- 
tion and testing on the job. 

How Outside Work Affects Teaching Methods. Outside 
work affords but little choice of method. Demonstration, 
application and testing on the job are practically the only 
teaching methods that are available for steps 2, 3 and 4 in 
the majority of cases. There will seldom be an opportunity 
to use illustrative material, nor should it be necessary in this 
class of work. 

How Surroundings Affect Organization for Putting Over a 
Lesson. As already pointed out the organization may be 
affected by the conditions. Thus the number of men that 
one instructor can handle in a class room, a shop and in outside 
work, such as bricklaying or shipyard work would vary, and 
this would also be affected by the character of the trade taught 
(drop forging vs. machine shop). Surroundings that require 
the scattering of the group or enable the group to be bunched 
would also affect the efficient size of the instructional gang. 

The Need for Adequate Equipment. Whatever may be 
the nature of the instructional material it should be adequate. 
Many people have the idea that "any old thing" is good 
enough for instructional work. In the shop some foremen will 



HOW SURROUNDINGS AFFECT INSTRUCTION 247 

think that a man can be instructed on a machine that has died 
of old age, or a worn out air gun is set aside for instruction in 
riveting. Good instruction can not be given with junk. 

In the class room, if one is used, the general instructional 
material should be good. 

Men should not be put into seats designed for six-year-old 
children; the equipment should not be a collection of odds and 
ends. "Good work requires good tools" and this is as true of 
the instructing trade as it is of any other trade. 

Special Training Equipment. Where it can be arranged the 
effectiveness of the instruction will be increased if certain 
equipment units are used exclusively for the training work, 
and this should be done whenever possible. It is obviously 
an advantage if this training equipment can be grouped, since 
better supervision can be secured under these conditions. Of 
course such grouping can be much more readily secured in 
training in shop trades than in training for outside occupations. 

Summary and Conclusion. Surroundings and material 
have to be considered by the instructor in connection with 
the type of learner, the working conditions, the gang organiza- 
tion and the selection of suitable methods of instruction. The 
selection is affected largely by the character of the trade as 
shop trade, yard trade, and as between "inside" and "out- 
side" instructing conditions. Instructional material should 
always be in good condition and suitable to the use to which 
it is to be put. It is an advantage for the Training Work to use 
its own training equipment. 



CHAPTER XXXVI 

HANDLING THE GANG FOR EFFECTIVE INSTRUC- 
TIONAL CONDITIONS 

A. GENERAL PROBLEMS 

Preliminary. Whenever a number of men are working 
under the supervision of one man the effectiveness of the work 
is greatly affected by what may be called the "working rela- 
tions" between the leader or "boss" and the group, or the 
"gang." However good the organization, however effective 
the equipment, the efficiency of the work for which the gang 
is organized and directed will be largely affected by what may 
be called the way in which the gang is "handled." 

While this is true in general for any gang on any job, a 
rowing crew, a base ball team, a production gang, it is es- 
pecially true in the case of an "instructional gang," and the 
manner in which the instructor "handles" his instructional 
gang, or group, will largely determine the success or failure 
of his instruction. 

The Instructional Gang vs. the Production Gang. While 
in many respects the problems of the instructor in charge of 
an instructional gang and those of a foreman in charge of a 
production gang are similar, there are certain vital differences 
owing to the fact that the production foreman is on the job to 
turn out work and the instructor is on the job to turn out 
trained men who can do work. This difference in the aim of the 
two kinds of groups, the instructional group and the produc- 
tion group, must never be lost sight of. As an illustration it 
may be said that the job of a production foreman is to keep his 
men working and the job of an instructor is to keep his men 
learning, or, to put it another way, the job of the production 
foreman is to keep his men thinking about getting the job done 
and the function of the instructor is to keep his men thinking 
about learning how to do the job. 

248 



EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL CONDITIONS 249 

Special Conditions Affecting the Work of the Instructor. 
The differences in the problem of handling men under instruc- 
tional conditions and under production conditions are largely 
determined by the fact that, for effective instruction, the rela- 
tion that exists between the instructor and the men affects 
the effectiveness of the instructional work more than does the 
relation between the foreman and the production gang. Un- 
less the relations are too bad the production foreman can get a 
fair job out of his gang even if the relations are not of the best, 
but if the relations of the instructor and the instructional gang 
are not just right, the instructional work suffers severely. 
This is because up to a certain point, men can be made to work 
but they cannot be made to think or learn. "You can lead 
the horse to water but you can't make him drink." Unless 
the desire to learn is there, and the learner is in a state of mind 
so that he can learn, the work of the instructor will not be 
effective. For example, a man may want to learn, but he may 
be so confused or scared that he cannot learn; or a man may be 
in such a state of mind that he will not learn. If the former con- 
dition exists, it is up to the instructor to recognize that state of 
confusion and know how to help the man out of it; if the latter 
to so handle the case that the cause of the man's negative atti- 
tude is removed, he does want to learn and goes at it effectively. 

Some Special Conditions that Affect the Handling of the 
Instructional Gang. Among the more important factors that 
affect the handling of the instructional gang are, the relation 
of the instructor to the learner, in that the instructor under- 
stands clearly what the best relations are and how to maintain 
them, the command of what is called the interest factors by 
the instructor and his ability to use them intelligently, the 
ability of the instructor to recognize and deal with the state 
of mind of the learner at different stages of his progress, and 
his general capacity to deal with unexpected situations in such 
a way that the work is not slowed up and the interest of the 
men reduced. Some of the more important factors affecting 
this work are discussed in the following paragraphs. 

The Relation of the Instructor to the Learner. An im- 
portant difference between the trained instructor and the 



250 THE INSTRUCTOR 

untrained instructor is that, in many cases, the latter takes a 
wrong point of view as to whether he is to drive his men or 
to direct his men. Is he the engine of the automobile or is he 
the driver? Does he furnish the power or does he direct the 
power? Since the answer to this question affects the whole 
problem of handling the group effectively it should be an- 
swered in the beginning. The instructor will succeed in pro- 
portion as he gets his men so that they furnish the "power" 
and he directs it. If he undertakes to furnish the "power" 
he will fall down on his job. This is because, as already 
pointed out, the learner must teach himself; nobody can teach 
him, the instructor can only get the learner into a state of 
mind where he wants to learn, and then see that the learning 
conditions are made as efficient as possible. That is why a 
well planned progressive course of instruction will work better 
than a poorly planned course, or a course that has not been 
planned at all. The well planned course will make the getting 
of the instruction easier for the learner, but if the learner did 
not want to learn, the best planned course in the world would 
not help the situation, although it is true that a well planned 
scientifically progressive course will make some learners want 
to learn who would not want to learn if the course were poorly 
planned, the reason for this being brought out in the discussion 
on interest. 

The poor instructor, not appreciating this fact, tries to be 
the power himself; he "does the work of his men" as is often 
said: he works hard and then is greatly disappointed because 
his men fail to profit by the instruction. He does the work 
instead of his men doing it. The trained instructor, knowing 
this principle, so handles his group that they do the work, 
"they furnish their own power" so to speak, and the instructor 
directs it. This situation is often expressed by the statement 
that so and so "wants to learn," but the other fellow "don't 
seem to want to learn," or that one instructor "gets the work 
out of his men" and another instructor "doesn't seem to be 
able to get the work out of his men." 

As has been mentioned in another part of these notes, it 
sometimes happens that an untrained instructor has the 
"knack" of getting his men so that they want to learn, but 



EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL CONDITIONS 251 

such a man is rarely aware of the principles that he is applying 
in his handling of his men and so even then does not do as good 
an instructing job as he might do. Some foremen have learned 
by experience something of the same thing, but in both cases 
it is generally "rule of thumb work" at the best. 

It may therefore be stated in general that the instructor 
will succeed in proportion as he stimulates his men to want to 
learn and then directs their activities in learning. He must 
direct the way in which the "power" works, but must not 
furnish the "power" himself. 

For stimulating his learners he uses an appeal to what is 
called interest and then directs the activities of his men towards 
the accomplishment of the special ends for which they are 
placed in his charge. His first problem, therefore, is to thor- 
oughly understand what things will arouse and sustain interest, 
that is, he must be familiar with interest factors, must know 
their relative values, and be able to use them effectively in the 
different situations that may come up in connection with his 
work with his gang. 

The Typical Attitude of Mind of the Learner. In general, 
any learner goes through three periods: when he first comes 
into the instructional group he is often scared or over anxious 
to please the instructor. Under these conditions he will often 
say that he understands when he does not understand at all. 
He is afraid to ask questions for fear that he will be considered 
stupid. He is often antagonistic; is ready to "fight" at the 
least provocation. Sometimes he thinks that the whole train- 
ing proposition is a joke; often he is confused; sometimes he 
does not know why he has been put under an instructor; he 
thinks that it is some new way of doing a regular job, and that 
the instructor is some new kind of a foreman, whose only 
business is to push him in some new way. Under these con- 
ditions his only thought is to do the job and he has no notion 
that his real job is to learn to do the work correctly. 

The Three Periods. The learner coming into a training 
department in any or all of the states of mind just described 
will, in general, go through three periods as he progresses 
through the training course. First, a period of adjustment; 



352 THE INSTRUCTOR 

second, a period of looking up; third, a period of getting down 
to business. For each of these periods the instructor, if he 
knows his business, will be prepared to deal with the learner 
effectively, using different methods of handling for each period, 
and even using different methods for different men in the same 
stage, doing all this with judgment, patience and tact. 

The First Period. This is the critical period; it is during 
this period that the man generally decides to stay or quit, and 
his decision will be determined largely by the way that he is 
handled by the instructor. If he can be got safely over this 
first period he is likely to wake up and make good. 

In dealing with a man during this first period the instructor 
will have to exercise all his tact: in general it may be said that 
his problem is to convince the man (and he cannot be con- 
vinced just by telling him) that the instructor is there to help 
him, that he will get a square deal, that the instructor knows that 
he feels, "like a cat in a strange garret" and is allowing for it. 

In proportion as the instructor succeeds in doing this he 
will succeed in holding the man, in getting his interest aroused 
and, as is sometimes said, in getting him over the "hump." 
While each instructor must work according to his own per- 
sonality and according to the special case the following sugges- 
tions may be of value, though, of course, nothing can take the 
place of experience. 

The Relation Between the Instructor and the Green Man 
during the First Period. During this first period it may be 
said that the instructor "pulls'* the man, that is, the instructor 
takes the initiative, he "keeps ahead of the game," he foresees 
what is coming and plans to meet it. He anticipates what the 
man will do that is wrong and heads him off in advance. He 
studies the man, notes his state of mind; if he finds that he is 
scared, he plans to deal with him so that he will get over his 
scare; if he finds that the man does not know why he is in 
training, he plans some way of casually enlightening him as to 
what the training work is and what it is for; if the man is 
antagonistic, he plans some way of getting the man "into line." 

In general, during this period the instructor is, so to speak, 
"ahead of the man all the time," anticipating, planning, 



EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL CONDITIONS 253 

studying the situation. It is during this first stage more than 
in any other that the tact, patience, and leadership of the in- 
structor comes into play, and the difference between a good 
instructor and a poor instructor shows up so far as gang 
management goes. 

It is hardly necessary to point out that, no matter how 
technically good an instructor may be, no matter how well he 
may be able to put over what he knows, no matter how well he 
knows his trade, no matter how well he plans his work and lays 
out his instructional order of jobs, if he fails to "get his man" 
during this first period, "the game is up" and the instructor 
will never be able to do a good instructional job so far as that 
man is concerned. 

Length of the First Period. The length of this first period 
will vary greatly with the man. One man will "catch on" in 
a few minutes, others will require several days, depending 
largely on the general make up of the man himself, his ex- 
periences before he came into the training work, what has been 
done for him by the employment department by way of giving 
him suitable information before he was put into training, in 
the way of informing him as to what he was hired for and what 
the training work can do for him. 

No general rules can be given for this stage of the instruc- 
tor's work; he must be on the alert, watch his man, and the 
more experience he has had in handling men, either as an 
instructor or as foreman, or both, the more likely will he be 
to handle the different men in this first stage successfully, 
provided he clearly understands the difference between the 
job of an instructor and the job of a production foreman. 

Some instructors who are otherwise well equipped for their 
work never succeed in dealing effectively with their men during 
this first stage, and in consequence their "group mortality" is 
large; they lose too many men. 

Under these conditions they usually blame the quality of 
the men that are assigned to them and do not realize that the 
trouble is with them. 

When an instructor finds that he is not "holding" his men 
it is up to him to carefully consider the way in which he is 
handling them, and make sure that the trouble does not lie there. 



254 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Where there is a definitely organized Training Department a 
consultation with the Director will often help matters very 
much, since the "slant" that an outside man who knows the 
game will get on a situation will often help the man on the 
job to see where he is falling down. 

The Question of Work during the First Period. Since the 
chief point to be attained during the first period is to help the 
man to become adjusted, the instructor will not push him 
either on quality or quantity of the work that he gives him. 
That is, he will not worry about the grade of work that the 
man does or the amount of work that he turns out. Of course, 
he will keep the man at work, give him all that he can do, get as 
good work out of him as can be reasonably expected, but, at 
this stage of the game will regard that as secondary to getting 
the man adjusted. He uses the work mainly as a means of 
helping him to help the man to wake up and get into line. 

An instructor who is impatient for results will often spoil 
the game by "speeding up'* the work too soon for the man to 
stand it; by "pushing a man too hard." As in other cases 
tact and patience together with experience is the only guide 
and the only means of handling this situation. 

"Do's and Don'ts" for Handling a Green Man during the 
First Period: 

Don't "bawl him out." 

Don't scare him. 

Don't discourage him. 

Don't expose him to ridicule if he makes a mistake. 

Do encourage him. 

Do help him to think that he is getting somewhere. 

Do see that he knows why he is in the department. 

Do "give him a show." 

Do make him feel that the instructor wants him to make good. 

While the above suggestions are applicable to the work at 
any stage of the learner's progress they apply with particular 
force during the critical first period. 

The Second Period. Having got over his original state of 
mind the learner sooner or later "wakes up," finds out what 
he is in the training department for, and gets an understanding 



EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTIONAL CONDITIONS 255 

of what it all means. Under normal conditions, if he has been 
properly handled in the first stage his interest begins to be 
aroused, he begins to want to take hold, that is he "wakes up." 

At this stage of his progress it may be said that the learner 
will "go as far as the instructor"; he will attempt to do what 
the instructor gives him to do, but will not go much further 
on his own account. He is still "green" however and still 
needs careful handling. 

Usually in this stage he will learn well but will learn slowly. 
He will make a number of "shots" at an idea before he gets it. 
He will make several tries at an operation before he can do it 
right. He is still more or less "clumsy" in his thinking and 
in his doing. 

The instructor can now establish a business basis with the 
learner; he can be held up to standards of quality, but it is 
not, in general, good management to also attempt to push for 
quantity. Get him to thinking about doing a good learning 
job, but not necessarily a quick learning job. 

The general relation between the instructor and the learner 
can now be placed on the basis that the man is there to be 
taught and the instructor is there to instruct him. This rela- 
tion will be largely affected at this point by the degree to which 
the learner feels that the instructor thoroughly knows his job, 
both as a tradesman and as an instructor because at this stage 
it is very essential that the man should have confidence in the 
ability of his instructor to do the various jobs himself and that 
he should be thoroughly convinced that his instructor can 
train him so that he can do those same jobs. If the man does 
not believe that the instructor is "onto" his job as a mechanic 
he loses confidence in the ability of the training department 
to train him correctly; if he does not believe in the teaching 
ability of the instructor, he feels that he can not learn because 
the instructor "don't seem to be able to put it over." 

The chief problem of the instructor at this stage is to make 
the transition from the "adjustment" basis to the "business" 
basis at just the right time, when the man is ready for it. This 
point is usually indicated by the fact that the man "begins 
to take hold," begins to ask intelligent questions, shows signs 
of individual thinking on the learning job. 



256 THE INSTRUCTOR 

It is easy at this stage to discourage a man; his first ques- 
tions may be pretty absurd from the standpoint of a com- 
petent workman, some of his notions may be pretty crude, 
but if they show that he is beginning to wake up he should be 
encouraged to keep on thinking and trying and helped by 
tactful suggestions rather than by too much criticism. 

Do's and Don'ts for the Second Period: 

Do encourage him to ask questions. 
Do give him a chance to think things out. 

Do make him think more of doing a good job than of doing 
a fast job. 

Don't show him too much. 

Don't let poor work get by. 

Don't push him too hard. 

The Third Period. As stated, this is the period when the 
man really gets down to business. He can now be pushed for 
quality and for quantity; criticisms can be direct and on a 
"brass tacks" basis. 

In this stage the man will begin to draw ahead of the in- 
structor; he will do considerable thinking on his own account; 
his suggestions will be direct and good. He will begin to "put 
the suction pump onto the instructor, " and will often push the 
instructor with his questions. 

It is in this stage that the relations of the instructor and the 
learner approximate the most closely to those of the foreman 
and the workman. As a learner the man is now beginning to feel 
that he is onto his job, that he knows how to go at the learning 
game, and that the instructor is a sort of "learning foreman." 

Relations at this stage will therefore be mainly those of the 
man who knows and the man who wants to learn; the instruc- 
tor will be able to concentrate most of his handling problems 
on keeping the instructional work going in good shape and in 
keeping up with the learner. 

Do's and Don'ts in the Third Period. 

Do hold up to good work. 

Don't push too hard for speed. 

Don't do his work for him. 

Dn't help him too much. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 
INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 



Preliminary. The preceding paragraphs discussed in a 
general way some of the special conditions that confront an 
instructor in connection with the handling of the gang under 
instruction during the different stages of the learner's pro- 
gression through the training department. The following 
paragraphs deal with some of the factors that an instructor 
be familiar with and must use in the handling of the instruc- 
tional gang if the best instructional conditions are to be secured. 

Among the most important of these is what is commonly 
called interest, and in the following discussion there is given 
a statement of what interest is, what some of the so-called 
interest factors are, and some description of the more common 
devices for bringing these interest factors into play, under 
conditions of emergency training. 

What is Interest? In general, the term interest means what- 
ever makes the learner want to learn. A learner who has, in 
some way, been brought into a state of mind where he wants 
to learn is said to be interested. Anything that will make him 
interested is called an interest factor. This term is used in the 
same sense in which it is used in everyday life : we know what 
we mean when we say that we were "interested" in what 
somebody said to us; we simply mean that we wanted to 
understand what he was telling us; if we were not "interested'* 
we merely mean that we did not care whether we understood 
what he was telling us or not. We have all had experience 
with some things that "interested us" and some things that 
did not "interest us," but, unless our attention had been 
drawn to the fact, we have never thought of why some things 
did appeal to us, or aroused our interest, and why some other 
i7 257 



258 THE INSTRUCTOR 

things did not appeal to us, that is, did not arouse our interest. 
That is, we have never thought of the interest factors that came 
into play and determined our state of mind in the case. 

Attention vs. Interest. Many instructors fail to distinguish 
between attention and interest. Attention is sort of ''instan- 
taneous" interest. Attention is usually attracted by something 
uncommon or unexpected or startling. The public speaker of 
a certain type bangs on the table or the instructor suddenly 
"calls down" a man, or a foreman yells at a man to "get onto 
his job, " the notion being to attract attention by the sudden- 
ness of the thing. Attention is a transitory state of mind on 
the part of the learner that does not last long enough to serve 
any really useful purpose. Interest is relatively permanent. 
To illustrate the difference one might say " My attention was 
roused by the barking of a dog but I was not interested enough 
to get up and see what the matter was." Attention only 
serves a useful purpose when the instructor sees to it that it is 
immediately followed by interest; taken alone, it has little 
or no value in instructional management in connection with 
handling the gang under instruction. 

Instructors often mistake attention for interest and under- 
take to base their gang management on the attracting of 
attention rather than on the development of interest. The 
results are, of course, unsatisfactory, for reasons that will 
appear in the following discussion. 

It seems sufficient merely to draw attention here to the 
fact that management that is based on attention is not likely 
to give effective results but that if the handling of the gang is 
based on interest, satisfactory results will be obtained, if the 
instructor knows how to handle his men through the skillful 
use of suitable interest factors. 

The Instructor and Interest Factors. A good instructor 
knows how to use interest factors to get his men into the 
"learning" state of mind, that is, to get them interested. He 
is the director of their learning activities; he cannot supply 
motive power. The men under instruction must in some way 
be brought into a state of mind where they want to learn the 
lesson and will keep wanting to learn it until they have got it. 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 25s 

That is, interest must not only be aroused but must be sus- 
tained. So every instructor must in some way secure the 
interest of his men and then keep that interest up or he can 
teach them nothing. As will be pointed out in the following 
paragraphs, interest may be developed in various ways and 
by various devices; that is, there are various interest factors 
and they can be "worked" through various "managing" 
schemes. 

The best instructor is the one who uses the best interest 
factors and puts them over through the use of the most effec- 
tive methods. 

Just as in the teaching of a lesson there are different steps 
and various methods can be used in putting over each step, 
the instructor selecting the best method for the particular 
instructional situation with which he wishes to deal, so, an 
instructor will use the different interest factors according to 
the situation and will get those factors to working by the use 
of the most suitable factors. 

The following paragraphs describe some of the more im- 
portant interest factors, discuss their relative values and 
describe some of the more common devices through which 
these different factors can be brought into play. 

Interest Factors. As already stated, in its instructional 
sense, interest means the cause of a desire on the part of the 
learner to comprehend or to do; to understand how to do a 
job or to do it, or both. Among the more important factors 
which have been recognized as producing interest, or assumed 
to produce interest are: 

(1) Realization by the learner that the thing that he is 
learning is going to aid him in accomplishing something that 
he desires to accomplish, as when a man realizes that, when he 
is trained he will get a job at more pay than he has been getting, 
or when a man who has gone into a shipyard from purely 
patriotic motives "for the war" realizes that what he is 
getting will enable him to be of more service than he could be 
without the training. 

(2) Feeling on the part of the learner that he can grasp 
what is being given him; that he can "get it." A learner who 
feels sure that he is "getting there" is much more interested 



260 THE INSTRUCTOR 

than one who feels that he "can't get it." Confidence means 
interest; discouragement means loss of interest. 

(3) Curiosity, as when a green man wants to learn the 
names of tools and processes when he first comes into the 
training department, or when a child takes the clock apart 
"to see the wheels go round." 

(4) Desire for approbation or praise; recognition of good 
work. The learner who knows that he has done a good job 
and has been told so, is more interested in tackling the next 
job than if he had not felt that his good work had been recog- 
nized. This is human nature. 

(5) Fear: of ridicule, of punishment, of loss of self-respect. 
As when a pupil in a regular school is kept after school or the 
teacher uses sarcasm, or ridicule in reprimanding him before 
his class. 

B. COMPARATIVE VALUES OF THESE FACTORS 

The Learner Feels that a Desired Aim is being Achieved. 
When the learner feels that something that he wishes to attain 
is being attained, that he is on the road and is progressing in 
the right direction, we unquestionably have the strongest 
factor that can be appealed to in arousing and maintaining 
interest. In proportion as a learner definitely wishes to satisfy 
an ambition that he has clearly defined in his own mind and 
he understands the conditions under which he can achieve 
success in realizing that ambition, his interest is aroused in 
mastering the problem, or learning how to perform the opera- 
tion whose mastery or comprehension means one more step 
towards the desired goal, and that interest will be sustained 
and permanent. This ambition to gratify a definite aim is the 
strongest interest factor known to instructors and the one 
on which the most effective instructional management can be 
based. It may be regarded as the one condition that must be 
met in effective group management. Given a learner with a 
known aim, or one in which a definite aim has been aroused 
by the instructor, the problem of effective management is 
largely solved if all the work of the learner is so arranged that 
it "lines up" to that aim, and the learner knows that alt his 
work does so "function." 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS $61 

Confidence in Ability to do the Job. This is undoubtedly 
one of the most valuable factors that can be used in develop- 
ing and sustaining interest. A discouraged learner, one who 
expects to fail, has not the interest of one who believes he can 
master the operation or "get" the lesson. Hence to secure 
and maintain interest great care must be taken to see that at 
each step of his progress the learner is given only work that 
the instructor is sure that he can learn to do. Every success 
means greater confidence in attacking the next step. Each 
partial failure means a loss of confidence in going at the next 
problem. Each total failure means loss of time, energy and 
interest, each success means useful expenditure of energy, and 
increased interest. In this lies a arge portion of the value of 
progressive courses of instruction where each new task is 
carefully chosen so that it is within the learner's capacity. 
A failure to recognize this principle lies at the bottom of much 
poor instruction. Thus learners are required to attempt too 
big a learning job at once, an apprentice who can give a good 
description of how to grind a certain tool may fail entirely if 
asked to describe the entire job of making a tool post. The 
girl who cannot describe how to make an entire dress can deal 
effectively with the question of telling how to thread a needle. 
The man who cannot make an instrumental drawing with 
regard to all fine points of instrumental work, at a certain 
stage of his instructional progress may nevertheless be able to 
make a good usable sketch with pencil and paper, or perhaps 
can work out a detail when he cannot at that stage of his 
progress make an assembly drawing. 

The learner who feels that he is succeeding, that he can 
"catch onto the job," can be trained more rapidly and more 
effectively than one who is not confident that he can make 
good. This is a very important factor in effective training. 
The efficient instructor will make considerable use of this 
confidence factor. 

Curiosity. Curiosity has value as an interest factor par- 
ticularly when the learner first comes into the yard. He runs 
across a lot of things that are new to him and strongly attracts 
his attention and which he is very anxious to learn. As a rule, 
however, curiosity is of more value in attracting attention 



SO* ME INSTRUCTOR 

than in securing interest and is confined largely to a desire to 
acquire auxiliary information. 

On the other hand the kind of interest which will carry a 
man through a difficult lesson or teaching unit, which will 
make him drive himself is not based on curiosity to any great 
degree. 

Desire for Approbation. In trade training desire for appro- 
bation can be used as an interest factor. The recognition of 
accomplishment provides an effective means for developing 
interest. A foreman or an instructor can stimulate consider- 
able interest in a learner by using personal approbation when 
satisfactory progress is made, or a job is particularly well done. 
When properly used this interest factor can be utilized to very 
great advantage in training, especially with green men during 
the first period of their work. 

Fear, It is often assumed in connection with industrial 
training that fear is effective in arousing interest on the part 
of the learner. A foreman will threaten to have a learner 
"fired" if he does not learn to do a job correctly. The fore- 
man will "bawl out" a man for not knowing how to do a piece 
of work the first time he is put on that job, or for not following 
instructions correctly. 

The use of fear as a means for developing interest is based 
on the assumption that a man who is scared can think more 
clearly than a man who is not, this of course cannot be true. 
A scared man will probably run faster or jump higher than a 
man who is not scared, but under the influence of fear a man 
will not comprehend or think clearly. His mental engine is 
"stalled." 

The appeal to fear is most commonly used by the untrained 
instructor, it is the only method he knows for developing 
interest, hence his instructional conditions are often very bad. 
The efficient instructor will not attempt to use fear, but will 
use other interest factors and will do a much better teaching 
job in consequence. 

The Learner and Interest Factors. In common with any 
organization established to render a service, any industrial 
plant gets learners whose special characteristics can be set 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 263 

forth in a general way. Among the chief characteristics of the 
men with which a training scheme in an average plant will have 
to deal are: 

a. The learner has a more or less definitely developed trade 
aim. That is, it can be fairly assumed that the man who 
comes into training is there because he wants to learn a trade 
or, at least, that he wants to be trained so that he can do a 
job, "he knows what he is there for." In this respect the 
training scheme is in the same class with a law school or a 
medical school; that is, the existence of a determined aim is a 
characteristic of the learner. 

b. The learners in training will be, at least, relatively 
mature; where training is scientifically carried on it is not 
likely that many very young persons and certainly no children 
will be included in its teaching groups. 

c. He is under pay and usually knows that as soon as he is 
trained, he can get additional pay. 

d. In at least many cases he may be not any too well 
equipped along general educational lines. 

e. His motives may be varied; he may be merely after 
better pay than he has been getting or under war conditions 
he may be in the work for patriotic motives. He may be 
working for promotion, or his motives may be mixed; this, 
of course, is only human nature. 

Interest Factors will Have Different Values for Different 
Types of Men. Evidently different types of men will respond 
in different degrees to different interest factors, and allowances 
must be made for such differences in considering the relative 
values of the interest factors just discussed. For example a 
man who is extremely anxious to learn the trade will respond 
more quickly, " catch on" more rapidly, and progress faster 
than a man whose aim is not so well determined ; the former 
man will be more interested than the latter. 

More mature men will respond more to the interest factor 
of accomplishment of aim while more immature learners will 
be more strongly affected by curiosity and desire for the 
recognition of good work. A man who is under pay and is 
looking forward to more pay or a better job later is more 
likely to keep up his interest than a man who is giving his 



264 THE INSTRUCTOR 

time to get his training, but the value of the financial incentive 
as an interest factor is, in many cases considerably overrated. 
Ambition, desire to make good, interest in the trade itself and 
desire to master it, are all in some cases, stronger interest 
factors than the immediate financial returns. A man taking 
the training for purely patriotic motives is likely to respond to 
the "war" appeal much more than a man who is in it only for 
what he can get for himself. A man who has relatively little 
general education is likely to have his interest roused and sus- 
tained more by spoken than by printed instruction and dis- 
cussion, and by homely and direct illustrations based on the 
experiences and incidents of everyday life. 

All such factors must be taken into consideration by the 
instructor in working interest factors with the different men 
that come into his gang, and each man must be handled accord- 
ing to his special characteristics, but the general principles 
laid down in these notes for the guidance of the instructors will 
hold, though, of course, nothing will take the place of good 
sense, experience and judgment in using the different interest 
factors in managing the gang under instruction. This is 
probably particularly true as between the trade extension 
man, the conversion man, the green man and the apprentice. 

The Kind of Learner and Interest Factors: The Trade 
Extension Man. From the standpoint of interest the trade 
extension man offers the simplest problem. He knows what he 
wants, he is usually well advanced in his trade, he is usually 
relatively mature. Under these conditions the only interest 
factor that applies to any great extent is accomplishment of 
aim. If the man knows what he wants and knows that he is 
getting it, the problems of the instructor in the handling of the 
group are reduced to the minimum. All of his men are prac- 
tically in the third stage as described in previous paragraphs, 
and the same general relations that obtain there would obtain 
in a trade extension class. 

Of the other factors, fear is, of course, practically non- 
existent, curiosity practically at zero, and desire for appro- 
bation, while of some value, of much less account than in the 
case of less mature men with less trade experience behind 
them, 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 265 

The Learner and Interest Factors : The Conversion Man. 
A man coming into training from an allied trade who desires 
to secure such additional information and training as will 
enable him to "convert" his trade into the new trade, offers 
little difference from the trade extension man. Usually at 
first, his curiosity is more acute, and can be used to a some- 
what greater extent as an interest factor. Other factors rate 
about as in the case of the trade extension man. 

The Learner and Interest Factors : The Green Man. This 
case offers of course, the greatest opportunity for the skillful 
use of all the desirable factors and the abuse of the undesirable 
ones. (Fear, for example.) As already pointed out, the relative 
values of the different factors vary with the stage of the 
learner's progress. In stage one, curiosity has some value, 
desire for praise a considerable value, if worked through the 
proper devices, the development of confidence has great value, 
and the accomplishment of aim can be worked to good effect, 
but probably not as effectively as in the later stages of the 
man's progression. 

In stage two, curiosity drops considerably, accomplishment 
of aim goes up and the other factors remain about the same. 
In stage three, accomplishment of aim becomes the strong 
interest factor, the others dropping to relatively low values. 

The young man or apprentice is less likely to have clearly 
seen the bearing of his training on his future work than is the 
mature man, hence the appeal to vocational aim is not likely 
to have so great a value in the earlier stages of his training. 
Desire for approbation will run stronger than in the ordinary 
green man. In general it may be said that the apprentice 
offers about the same situation, so far as interest factors go, as 
the green man, with the value of the different interest factors 
rather more strongly developed, that is, the apprentice comes 
back on a given interest factor rather more rapidly and in- 
tensively than does the green man. 

C. THE APPLICATION OF INTEREST FACTORS IN THE MAN- 
AGEMENT OF THE GANG UNDfcR INSTRUCTION 

Preliminary. The foregoing paragraphs have discussed the 
general principles affecting the use of interest and its value in 



26G THE INSTRUCTOR 

handling a gang under instructional conditions. The following 
paragraphs suggest some specific ways in which the instructor 
can apply these principles in his working practice. 

Some General Suggestions. As a preliminary the following 
general rule for good teaching may be suggestive. Probably 
the advertising field shows as expert use of the factors of 
interest as any line of work in which people have to be handled 
and the following rule given for the principles of good adver- 
tising by an advertising expert will apply equally well to the 
work of the instructor. 

1. Attract attention. 

2. Maintain attention until it becomes interest. 

3. Keep up interest until it results in action. 

4. Guide the action in the direction of efficient results. 

The working out of this principle can be seen in any ad- 
vertising device. Pictures, striking sentences, are used to 
attract attention, snappy reading matter to develop interest, 
follow up work to get the interest to result in action. Sales- 
men to direct the interest to the desired end, the sale of the 
product. 

In a sense the instructor is a salesman and in order to sell his 
goods he must also be a good advertiser, so the general prin- 
ciples of good advertisement and salesmanship apply to him as 
well as to the man with a manufactured product that he puts 
on the market. 

Some Things that Affect the Development and the Mainte- 
nance of Interest. In connection with effective group manage- 
ment there are a number of things that affect the development 
of interest and its maintenance after it is developed. In 
proportion as these things are handled well by the instructor 
the interest will keep up, to the extent that they are not 
handled well the interest will fall off. Among the more im- 
portant of these conditions are, good teaching, the avoidance 
of overfatigue (especially mental) on the part of the learner 
or the group, the instructor's manner and voice, too much 
interference by the instructor, rattling the learner through 
trying to give him too much at one "bite," failure to clear up 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 267 

a given point in the instruction about which the learner is 
confused at the time that he first knows that he is confused, 
"lost motion" in carrying on the instruction, standing around 
owing to poor planning on the part of the instructor and 
"playing favorites." 

Good Teaching the Most Effective Agent to Develop In- 
terest. Undoubtedly the most effective method of maintain- 
ing interest is good instruction. Under good teaching methods 
the learner develops confidence in his ability to do, because he 
finds that the learning "comes easy, " if, as a result of efficiently 
planned and presented instruction, he progresses rapidly, he 
feels that his desire to "learn his job" is being attained. On 
the other hand, no condition will make gang management 
more difficult than poor instruction: men that feel that they 
cannot do the work lose their interest, if they feel they are not 
progressing rapidly, the interest falls off. Too much emphasis 
cannot be laid on the value of well planned and carried out 
instruction work in arousing and maintaining interest, and so 
making the handling of the instructional gang easy for the 
instructor. Failure on the part of the instructor to carefully 
plan his lessons, to lay out his work progressively, to select the 
best methods of instructing for the different jobs that are to be 
put over, probably accounts for more difficulty in handling 
the group under instruction than any one factor, because of 
the questions of lack of interest that inevitably result from 
such a condition. 

The Question of Fatigue. After a group of men have been 
learning for a certain period they become fatigued and the 
interest falls off. This condition is likely to come sooner with 
a group on work that requires much thinking, as in the case of 
instructing on a technical job, but it will come at some time 
in all cases. The instructor must be on the alert to recognize 
this condition and be ready to deal with it. 

There are two common methods of dealing with fatigue; 
the first is to "knock off" for a little while, the second is to 
change the character of the work, or to take the minds of the 
group off the work for a moment. Public speakers often use 
this latter device when they inject a funny story or an anecdote 



268 THE INSTRUCTOR 

into a serious argument. In " class room " work where the learner 
works almost entirely "with his head" interest can sometimes 
be revived by getting the learner to do something that re- 
quires some physical exertion; expert instructors will some- 
times in such a case, even contrive some errand for the man to 
do so that he does a totally different sort of work for a few 
moments. The main point to always bear in mind is that it is 
no use to attempt to drive a fatigued learner; the problem is 
to get him "rested" so that his interest will revive again. A 
skillful instructor is always on the lookout for signs of fatigue 
in his learners, and is always ready to deal with the situation. 

The unskilled instructor hammers away and goes from bad 
to worse. Usually he finally winds up by declaring that his 
learners are no good, never were any good and never will be 
any good, all of which means that he is not onto his job, and 
that probably there is nothing the matter except that the men 
were fatigued and the instructor did not know it. Of course the 
learners did not know it; they know that they had lost interest 
in the work, but they did not know why, and it was not their 
business to know why; it was the business of the instructor, 
part of his job, to see that they did not get into that condition, 
or if they did, see that they were got out of it at once. 

The Instructor's Manner and Interest. An instructor can 
affect interest very largely by his manner in dealing with the 
men under his instruction. In this respect it may almost be 
said that the class reflect the instructor. If he is brisk, busi- 
nesslike and energetic, he will arouse the interest of the men 
and they will be brisk, businesslike and energetic. If he is 
negative, slow, "logy" he will seriously impair the interest of 
his men and they will be "logy" too. If he is not quite onto 
his job his men will lose interest and not be onto their jobs. 
If his manner is "snappy" and his "put over" is neat, the 
interest will go up; if the reverse, interest will go down. If 
the instructor is "full ofcpep" the interest will go up and the 
men be full of "pep." 

One of the most common causes of diminished interest is 
an inaudible voice: if a man under instruction cannot hear all 
that is said he quickly loses interest; this is a very common 
failing on the part of many instructors. One large transit 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 269 

company in its suggestions to conductors says "Always speak 
to the passenger who is farthest from you when you call out 
streets." This is a good rule : always if you are talking to more 
than one member of the gang, be sure that every man who 
should hear you does hear you. 

Interference by the Instructor. Too much interference by 
the instructor is often the cause of loss of interest by the 
learner. The instructor becomes impatient, shows or corrects 
the learner when he does not need it. Some instructors will 
take the work out of the learner's hands at the first mistake. 
"Here, I'll show you, you get off the job." This kills interest, 
especially if the learner is getting along all right and merely 
needs more time or a bare suggestion. 

Instructors habitually fail to distinguish between the fact 
that while they thoroughly understand the teaching unit, the 
learner has still to be made to understand it. As a result they 
forget that what they can easily do, the learner has yet to be 
taught to do. The instructor has got it, the learner has yet to 
get it, consequently the instructor undertakes to present in one 
teaching unit more than the learner can take in one learning 
operation. Of course the learner gets "rattled," he "goes to 
pieces," he "lays down on the job," consequently he loses his 
confidence, hence his interest. Had the instructor been "on 
to his job" and had used a smaller teaching unit, the man 
would not have gone to pieces, would not have lost his .con- 
fidence, and would have kept up his interest. For instance, if 
a learner is given a series of lessons on the different parts of a 
long job, he will get them one by one, and will keep up his 
interest; whereas if he is given a whole job in one teaching 
unit, he is liable to "lose his nerve," and so make a bad job 
of it. 

Another cause of loss of interest occurs not from rattling 
the man by throwing too much at him at one time, but by 
causing confusion with regard to a certain point, through the 
learner not being immediately straightened out as soon as he 
becomes conscious of the fact that he is confused and wants to 
be straightened out. Under these conditions, if the instruc- 
tor does not immediately remove this confusion, a great loss 
of interest will result because he will not keep his understand- 



270 THE INSTRUCTOR 

ing of what he is confused about and his desire to get straight- 
ened out in "cold storage" very long. 

The necessity of the instructor's planning his work ahead ap- 
pears plainly in this connection. If this is not done there will 
he a lot of "lost motion" with corresponding loss of interest. 

Probably nothing reduces interest more than "standing 
around." If a learner finds that he must wait while materials 
are got ready, or because he does not know what his job is, or 
he does not know what to do next, his interest will be rapidly 
reduced. 

It is very necessary to prevent loss of interest from this 
cause by seeing that where material should be ready it is 
ready. That when a man has completed a job, or been in- 
structed in a lesson, that he knows what his next job is to be. 

Playing Favorites: The " One Man Instructor." One of 
the most difficult situations that an instructor can get into 
comes about through playing favorites. This is a very easy 
thing to do, especially in the case of a particularly good man; 
the temptation is always strong to give him more than his 
fair share of attention and help. Another type of man will 
happen to be a good talker and will follow up the instructor 
with calls for assistance or questions, the instructor will un- 
consciously give him more than his fair share of attention. 
Whatever may be the cause such an unequal division of the 
instructor's time will always cause an undesirable situation 
in the group. It is even worse when the instructor allows 
personal bias to affect his work with different men; the temp- 
tation is always to work with the man that he likes and neglect 
the man that he does not like, and this tendency must be 
carefully guarded against. As soon as the men in the group 
get the idea that the instructor is playing favorites, the proper 
relation of instructor and group is disturbed. 

Under the conditions just described all the men lose interest: 
the neglected men because they think that the instructor does 
not care how they come out and the other men because they 
think they have a "pull" with the instructor. In either case 
interest is reduced and discipline suffers. 

An excellent way to keep clear of such a situation is for the 
instructor to keep some sort of a check list and keep track of 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 271 

the time and attention that he gives to each man, so that he 
has some sort of a check. 

Of course the above statements do not mean that an in- 
structor might not properly give more time to a backward man 
than to a bright one, but when this is done the reason for 
doing it should be so obvious that no one can con plain. 

Distribution. In putting over a lesson or a set of lessons to 
a group it is very easy to do all the work with one or two men. 
In the case of group instruction, especially off the job, as in 
trade extension work, and especially with rather large groups, 
improper distribution is especially likely to occur if the in- 
structor is not on his guard against it. A properly distributed 
lesson will make approximately equal demands on all members 
of the group or the class. In "inside work" (where the use of 
this device is possible), a check list, on which the instructor can 
check off the names of different learners as he works with them, 
is one of the best devices for avoiding improper distribution. 

In "outside work" the use of the list of names is not so 
easy : the instructor will generally have to rely on knowing his 
men and, with the small groups that he will probably work 
with, there should be no special difficulty in securing reason- 
ably good distribution. 

Evidently questions of distribution in group or class work 
will come up mainly in connection with trade extension work 
or possibly instruction to groups on technical jobs, rather than 
on production jobs in the yard. In the case of "outside work" 
where the instruction will be, of necessity, mainly individual, 
the question of proper distribution will be even more difficult 
to deal with. Under the teaching conditions unavoidably 
set up in this case (more or less wide distribution of the men, 
noise, men on different jobs, or on different stages of the same 
job, or both), it is extremely difficult for the instructor to avoid 
doing most of his instructing with a few of his men, and leaving 
others to get along as well as they can. The instructor should 
take every means that he can to avoid such improper distribu- 
tion. Some sort of a memorandum card that he can carry in 
his pocket and on which he can check up his work with the 
different men will be helpful, even if it is only used as a tem- 
porary record and thrown away at the close of the day's work 



272 THE INSTRUCTOR 

or transcribed onto some permanent record form. The follow- 
ing form might be suggestive : 

Group, No. 2. Job Step Times 

Jones Flush rivets 3 4 

Robinson Flush rivets 2 3 

Smith Snap rivets 1 1 

Deane Countersunk 4 1 

This means that Jones was on the third step of the lesson, 
(Application) and so the instructor put in time with him four 
times during the morning. Robinson, on step 2, got three 
intervals of the instructor's time. Smith, only got time from 
the instructor once, and Deane, on Testing (presumably 
driving right along and only requiring an inspection), got 
inspected once. 

Distribution According to the Stage of the Lesson that the 
Man Is in. As already stated when working with a group on 
production work in the yard, the instructor will get men who 
are on different lessons and who also may be in different stages 
of the same lesson, as in the checking record shown above. 
The way that an instructor should distribute his time among 
the different men is affected by the stage of the lesson on which 
the man is under instruction. In general, a man in steps 2 
and 3 will require more of the instructor's time than a man 
in step 1, and step 4 will, in general, require the least of 
the instructor's time. In distributing his time the instructor 
should bear these facts in mind. 

Of course the above statement does not mean that the in- 
dividual men will not require instruction and help in various 
degrees, according to his special characteristics, and the 
demands of the special situation, but is intended to draw 
attention to the fact that an instructor can set up a few general 
standards for time distribution that may serve him as some- 
thing of a check and help him to keep away from ineffective 
distribution. 

Concentration. In its general sense this means sticking to 
the lesson in hand and not getting diverted onto other sub- 
jects during the progress of the lesson. This will, of course, be 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 273 

most likely to occur in group or class work but the same 
principles will apply to instruction of production work. If a 
man has a group of say six men under instruction, he has six 
definite lessons to put over, and in all probability he has to 
put them over at different times, unless the men happen to 
"bunch." The question of concentration therefore applies 
as much to the individual lesson as to the group lesson, except 
that with one man the chance of keeping the work concen- 
trated is much better. 

With an interested man or group poor concentration may 
easily come about unless the instructor has, at all times, the 
aim of the lesson and the particular teaching unit clearly in 
mind. The problem of holding a group of men or one man to 
the particular learning job in hand and still not destroying 
interest is one calling for much skill, tact, and practice on the 
part of the instructor. A great aid in doing this is the use of 
a lesson plan or sufficient memoranda to form an "operation 
sheet," even when the instructor is experienced enough to 
put over the lesson without such fully worked out memoranda 
as would be required by a man who was relatively "green" 
on the teaching job. 

Distribution and Concentration as Affecting Interest. 
Both poor distribution and lack of concentration seriously 
affect interest. Poor concentration, whether in a group or in 
instructing an individual man will rapidly reduce interest. 
This is particularly serious in step 2 of the lesson because 
in this case it tends to nullify the effects of good preparation. 

Poor distribution also affects interest: if the man feels that 
he is not getting the attention that he should have, or help 
when he needs it, it is easy for him to get into an "I should 
worry" state of mind which, of course, kills interest. 

In either case the results are bad and the efficient instructor 
will be on the alert to avoid reducing the interest of his man 
through distribution or lack of concentration. 

Indications of Lost Interest. An interested man is "onto 
his job" and an uninterested man is not "onto his job." 
Generally when a man gets "off his job " it means that in some 
way, the interest is gone. It is then up to the instructor to 

18 



274 THE INSTRUCTOR 

get busy, find out what the matter is and get the man to going 
again as soon as possible. He must be an expert in determining 
the cause of lost interest, and he cannot take too much time to 
study each individual case as it comes up; in fact, an ex- 
perienced instructor will often be able to tell that the interest 
of a given man is going to "let go" before the man himself is 
aware of what is going to happen. Of course the longer a man's 
interest is allowed to lapse without being started up again, the 
more of a job the instructor will have to get things moving, 
so the more nearly the instructor can be "Johnny on the spot" 
when the interest of a given man begins to "let go," the less 
of a "repair" job the instructor will be making for himself 
and the more efficient will be his work with his gang. 

The General Value of Interest in the Instructional Manage- 
ment of the Gang. Considerable space has been devoted in 
these notes to the question of interest and to the factors that 
affect it. This is because, after all is said, the success or failure 
of an instructor so far as the management of his gang goes will 
be largely determined by the degree to which he can work 
interest for "all that it's worth." An interested man will 
work, he can be easily instructed, he will not loaf on his job, 
he will ask intelligent questions, he will want to learn. Under 
these conditions the problems of management become easy, 
and the instructor can put in all his time and energy on his 
real job, instruction. Under reverse conditions the problems 
of management become more difficult, require more of the 
time of the instructor, thus drawing him to that extent away 
from his real job; the instruction is not so effective and the 
whole training program suffers accordingly. 

Instructors cannot give too much attention to the study 
of interest and interest factors, and to the methods by which 
interest can be developed and maintained in their men. Time 
and energy spent in this work will be well repaid. 

D. THE INSTRUCTIONAL TURNOVER AS IT AFFECTS THE 
INSTRUCTOR 

Preliminary. In any training department, as in any pro- 
duction department, a certain number of men who enter will 
not complete the training work. Some will prove to be misfits, 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 275 

some will quit for one reason or another, some will show that 
they should be transferred to another line of training. In the 
ordinary use of the term we can say that there will be an in- 
structional turn over. In any department a large turn over is an 
indication of something wrong and it is generally considered 
that the most expensive thing that can be done with a man is to 
discharge him when he has once been employed and set to work. 

The same general problems that apply to the production 
turn over apply to the instructional turn over; many of these 
problems lie outside of the instructor's job, but, to the extent 
that they affect the turn over of a given group under a given 
instructor, they are problems that affect that instructor, and 
to that extent he should give them consideration. Some dis- 
cussion of the factors that affect turn over in the group, and 
the effect of turn over on the problems of training, are therefore 
included in this section. 

It is a well known fact that different instructors will show 
very different results as to turn over in their groups: one 
instructor will show a large turn over and another instructor 
a small turn over, when both men have the same general class 
of learners and are instructing in the same line of work. One 
man will "hold" his men, the other man will fail to "hold" 
his men. Both men are earnest and doing all that they can; 
what causes the difference? Such questions as these may well 
be given careful attention by the instructor whose problem is 
to turn out as many effectively trained men as he can from all 
the men who come to him for training. The following para- 
graphs discuss some of the more important points that come 
up in this connection. 

Firing a Man is not Training Him. It is evident that, 
whenever a man who has been put into a group is dropped 
before the end of the training course, he has not been trained. 
For some reason, and it may be a satisfactory reason at 
that, the training work has failed to deliver the goods. 
Whatever time, energy, and money have been expended in 
carrying the man up to the time that he was dropped constitute 
a dead loss. Firing a man from a training group costs money 
just as much as firing a man from a production department 
costs money. This is a cold fact. 



276 THE INSTRUCTOR 

A Good Man is Worth Saving. It may be said in general, 
that a man who is "good stock" is worth saving at the expense 
of additional time and effort. The cost of the extra time will 
usually be more than offset by the loss in investment if he is 
dropped. If an instructor thinks that the man is "good stock " 
he should exhaust all means for getting him trained before he 
recommends his discharge. 

A Really Poor Man is a Useless Drag and Expense. It is 
also a cold fact that retaining a man who really cannot be 
trained costs money, time, and energy. He is taking the place 
of a man who could be trained. He is a drag on the work and 
is putting in his time to no advantage. 

An instructor is therefore between two fires in considering 
the desirability of retaining or dropping a man. 

Some suggestions in this connection may be of assistance to 
the instructor in coming to a decision in this matter. 

Questions that an Instructor Must Face when he Decides 
that he Cannot Train a Man. As pointed out the instructor 
must face a decision based on a balancing of two factors: the 
chance that the man is "good stock" or that he is "poor 
stock." The average untrained instructor will usually decide 
too quickly that the man is "poor stock" he will not wait 
long enough to be sure. Any decision that he makes is largely 
a guess at best. He does not know which of the three periods 
the man is in, he does not know that all reasonable efforts to 
arouse and maintain interest have failed. The trained in- 
structor, knowing more, makes his decision much more on all 
the facts of the case, and so deals with the case much more 
effectively. 

Where Some Instructors Fail on the Matters of Turn Over. 
Many instructors always assume that failure on the learner's 
part is the fault of the man. They never think that it may be 
their fault. They instinctively take the position that, of course, 
they are all right and so it must be the fault of the man. Such 
an attitude is not unnatural in an untrained instructor, but an 
experienced man will look first at his end of the problem to see 
where he has fallen down, because, as a matter of fact, it is not 
improbable that he is partially or wholly to blame. 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 277 

The Case of the Failure : Who is to Blame? When we have 
failure the cause may be due to any or all of several causes. 
It may be due to poor instruction, poor management, poor 
teaching conditions, or may be due to the fact that the learner 
was "unteachable." The first three causes are within the 
control and field of responsibility of the instructor, the last is 
not. In a case of approaching failure the instructor should 
carefully study the situation in order to determine whether 
the cause does or does not lie within those causes that he can 
control, if that seems probable, see what he can do to improve 
conditions. Before he puts it up to the man alone he must be 
sure that poor instruction, poor management, or poor teaching 
conditions are not responsible. 

Poor Instruction. By this is meant that the work of the 
instructor has been badly planned, or not planned at all, or he 
lias used unsuitable methods for putting over his instruction, 
or he has failed to use a good instructional order. Poor work 
in this respect has often been the real cause of a 1 .rge "turn- 
over" in an instructional group. 

Poor Management. Failure to meet any or all of the con- 
ditions of good management, especially with regard to the 
instructor's relations to his men, his handling of interest factors, 
etc., may be the cause of an apparently approaching failure, 
or of one that has actually come about. 

Poor Teaching Conditions. In many cases the instructor's 
turn over has been unduly increased because he undertook to 
instruct under improper instructional conditions. He takes 
too large a group, he tries to work with defective material, he 
tries to demonstrate without proper demonstx tion material. 
In these cases and in all cases of this character, while poor 
teaching conditions may or may not be due to causes beyond 
the instructor's control, he should carefully consider them as 
possible cause for an approaching failure. 

Poor Learner. By a poor learner is meant a man who, if 
all the other causes of failure were removed, would still fail to 
make good. While such men are much more rare than is 
usually assumed, especially where the employment depart- 
ment has exercised due care in selecting men for given lines 



278 THE INSTRUCTOR 

of training, such cases do occur. A man may prove physically 
unfitted for the work, he may not seem to possess the sense of 
accuracy required for a given trade, he may not possess enough 
power of forming mind pictures to successfully master a trade 
composed largely of technical jobs. When the instructor is 
satisfied that he has a man of this type, after careful study of 
the situation, then, of course, it becomes his duty to bring 
about his removal from the instruction group. 

E. SOME SPECIAL POINTS IN GANG MANAGEMENT 

Preliminary. The following paragraphs present some spe- 
cial points that concern the instructor in the problems of the 
management of his gang. These problems concern themselves 
largely with the matter of getting the gang to work, keeping it 
at work, and some general questions that seem to be worth 
drawing attention to in these notes. 

Problems Connected with Getting the Group to Work. 
It is essential to the maintenance of interest and of discipline 
that the group under instruction should be started promptly 
when work is supposed to begin. Any delay in this matter is 
a serious failure in handling the gang. There are several rea- 
sons for this: in the first place the training organization that 
has the job of training men to do their jobs right should do, in a 
way, a model job. If the men are allowed to loaf in the train- 
ing department why won't they loaf on their jobs after they 
are trained? In the second place men -re being trained in 
correct habits in the training work. In the third place the 
training work is the place of all places where speed and snap 
should prevail. 

Among the more important points to be looked out for by 
the instructor in this connection is planning so that there will 
be no delay in securing materials, in each man knowing just 
where he knocked off and where he starts in again, and being- 
prepared for a "quick shift, " as in the case where the weather 
changes over night and makes the continuation of out of door 
work impossible. So far as the instructor can foresee and 
provide for "starting contingencies" he will be able to start his 
gang promptly when the whistle blows, and it is a part of his 
job to do just this thing. 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 279 

In this connection one or two suggestions may be of service. 
It will pay the instructor to be on the job a few minutes before 
the work starts, -so that he can make a preliminary inspection 
of conditions before his men come onto the job. He may have 
left things all right but something may have happened in the in- 
terval that will need attention, and which if not attended to will 
seriously interfere with the work of some man or of all the group. 

Again the instructor will find it highly desirable to keep his 
work planned out in advance so that he knows what sort of 
equipment will be needed and can provide it in advance of the 
need for its use. In selecting and laying out suitable jobs 
for his men this must be planned for well in advance; such 
planning cannot be carefully worked out under pressure. 
An hour spent on this sort of work each day, even in the in- 
structor's own time, will be well repaid in increased efficiency 
and the satisfaction of doing a good job. In this connection it 
is probably needless to remark that the instructor who "works 
by the clock" is generally an inefficient instructor and should 
get some other kind of a job. The real instructor has a job 
to do and does it without regard to hours. 

Problems Connected with Keeping the Group at Work. 
Having started the group to work promptly there is still the 
problem of keeping the work up continuously during the work- 
ing period. Many considerations, some of which have been 
touched upon in these notes, make this imperative. The 
instructor has several men who probably are none of them at 
the same stage of progress, they each may be requiring a differ- 
ent lesson or may be in different parts of the same lesson, or 
there may be any other possible combination. They may be 
bunched in a room or, what is more likely in emergency 
training, scattered over a greater or less space under instruc- 
tion on production work. The effective handling of this situa- 
tion is a considerable problem for the instructor. 

The Double Function of the Instructor. It may be said in 
general that the instructor on the job has all the problems of a 
foreman and then some of his own. As an instructor, his job 
is to instruct, to teach effectively, efficiently, and rapidly. 
This is his primary job. In order to carry on his instructional 



280 THE INSTRUCTOR 

work efficiently the instructor has also many of the problems 
of the supervisor, that is, he must keep the instructional work 
going, just as a production foreman must keep the production 
work going. Of course, it must be clearly understood that the 
instructor is up against problems of instructional supervision 
and not production supervision, even if his men are being 
instructed on production work, which of course they are under 
any good training plan. The instructor must be sure and not 
get his responsibility for instruction confused with respon- 
sibility for production; in his case production is a by-product of 
instruction, although, of course, considerable production will 
come out of the instructional work. 

The Instructor as an Instructor. The instructor's job is, 
of course, to "put it over, " that is what he is hired to do. He 
must carry out the instructional process effectively under the 
working conditions. He must put each of his learners through 
the series of teaching lessons as they are laid out in the course 
of progressive instruction that he has prepared. He must 
put over the different teaching steps in their order, put over 
each step effectively, in short, do a good instructing job. He 
will have to do this generally under conditions of individual 
instruction, rarely under ordinary conditions will he get group 
and probably never class instruction. The final test of his 
efficiency is the effectiveness of his teaching. 

In order that the instructional work may go on effectively 
however, the instructor must also keep track of the teaching 
conditions, and in this sense he becomes also a supervisor. 

The Instructor as a Supervisor. One important part of 
the work of the instructor consists in keeping track of just 
where each man is in his work and to do this he needs some 
sort of a record; he should not attempt to rely on his memory 
for this information. He needs to know what job each man is 
on, when he is likely to be through, what sort of a job he should 
have next, etc. He must know how each man is getting along, 
when he is stuck and needs a little help, wlien he is ready for a 
new lesson, when he needs a little supplementary instruction 
and so on. The work of the instructor so far as he may be 
called a supervisor consists in keeping the whole group under 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 281 

his eye and knowing just what is needed at any given time by 
any given man, seeing that conditions are right, that nothing 
has happened to interfere with the effective carrying on of the 
instructional process. This is supervisory work, and does not, 
in its essentials, differ from that of a good foreman. 

The Proper Attitude of the Men towards the Instructor. 
Effective or ineffective gang management will show more in 
the attitude of the men towards the instructor than in any 
other way. Under good management the men and the in- 
structor will evidently be all on the job together, on a straight 
man to man basis : the men will not be afraid to ask questions 
and the questions will be to the point; there will be much dis- 
cussion but there will be little argument; the men will be on 
the job whether they are under the eye of the instructor or 
whether they are not; all conditions will be business-like and 
"natural." The men will evidently think of the instructor as 
a "coach" rather than as a production foreman; the instruc- 
tional work will proceed rapidly and effectively, with no con- 
fusion; work will start promptly and will go on until the end of 
the instructional period. 

Under conditions of poor management the reverse condi- 
tions will prevail; men will loaf on the job when they can; the 
instructor will become involved in arguments with the men 
or the men will get into arguments that lead nowhere; the 
instructor will be working with one man with the rest of the 
gang standing around waiting; the instructor and the men will 
be "rowing" more or less; the work will be "slack." 

The Man who Works the Instructor. In any instructional 
gang there will be from time to time a sample of the man who 
tries to "work" the instructor; he puts up a bluff that he is 
greatly interested, that he is very anxious to get ahead as fast 
as possible and so on. The instructor may have some difficulty 
at first in distinguishing this type of man from the man who 
really wants to know, but in the long run he will show himself 
for what he is because he will fail to "deliver the goods" in 
his work. Of course the method of dealing with such a man is 
to stick to straight business with him, give him his fair share 
of attention but no more, and give him a chance to find out 



282 THE INSTRUCTOR 

that he is not getting anywhere. Of course the last resort, 
when the instructor is "sure of his man," is a straight talk and 
a " call down." The great danger here is that the instructor may 
make a mistake and seriously depreciate the interest of a really 
interested man if he takes action before he is sure of his facts. 

The Man who Stops Working. When a learner stops 
working it may be due to any one of several causes and the 
instructor should determine the cause before he undertakes to 
deal with the matter. First, the man may not know what to do 
next; in this case he needs additional instruction; the in- 
structor must find out just what point he is stuck on and set 
him right. This can often be best done by the use of sugges- 
tive questions. Second, the man may be tired, mentally or 
physically; in that case the instructor cannot give further 
instruction and generally that is not what he needs, but he 
must be given a change of thinking or a rest, as the require- 
ments of the case may call for. Third, he may have reached a 
point where he is confused; he thinks that he knows what to do 
next but is afraid that if he goes on he may spoil the job; he 
hesitates; in that case a little suggestion from the instructor 
will generally get him to going again because it is more a ques- 
tion of a choice between possible things that can be done 
rather than not knowing what to do. In the fourth place the 
man may have struck some combination of circumstances that 
was not contemplated when the lesson was taught; in that 
case he needs additional instruction from the instructor. 

Cases of this kind will most often occur in the progress of the 
lesson in steps 2 and 3, rather than in steps 1 or 4. 

Since the method of dealing with the case will be different 
according to the cause of the "slacking up, " the instructor must 
be an expert in determining the cause of the particular difficulty 
before he undertakes to straighten it out. If he attempts to 
deal with a confused man as if he were a tired man, he will only 
make a bad matter worse, and so with other possible cases. 

The Man who Loafs on the Job. Another type that will 
come along from time to time is the loafer; he means to get by 
with as little work as possible. Such a man needs, of course, 
to have his interest aroused, and, if this can be done, the situa- 



INTEREST AND INTEREST FACTORS 283 

tion will remedy itself. If he is really a loafer he is a dangerous 
member of the group ; he will interfere with the work of others, 
set them a bad example, and should be summarily dealt with. 
Great care should be used not to mistake a man who has 
slowed down because he is fatigued, or because he is stuck and 
needs help, with the sort of a man just described. Mistaking 
the latter for the former type may spoil a good man. 

The General Question of Discipline. In general there are 
two ways in which instructors approach the question of estab- 
lishing and maintaining good working conditions; that is, 
discipline, as it is called. The first method is based on what 
may be called "school discipline," that is, the instructor who 
undertakes to enforce this sort of discipline is thinking of the 
sort of discipline that is found in a regular school. The in- 
structor who uses the other sort of discipline has in mind the 
discipline of the yard or the shop. The second method is right, 
the first is wrong. "School discipline" has no place in shop 
training, even with apprentices. 

Many men on becoming instructors feel that they must 
take on all the conditions and attributes of the "regular school 
teacher" as they suppose the regular school teacher to be. 
They are generally wrong in their notions as to the make up of 
the good modern teacher, but that is not important. In doing 
this they feel that they must "sustain their dignity," must 
have "discipline," etc. Of course the only result of such 
notions is that the work of such an instructor is poor, his turn 
over is large, and he generally ends by giving up the instruc- 
tional game either because he wants to or because he has to. 
Usually he never knows what the matter is. 

Why Regular School Discipline Will not Work in Industrial 
Training. In the first place the conditions are entirely dif- 
ferent in a regular school and in trade training, and the sort 
of discipline that has to be enforced in a school is not required 
in training work. In a school large numbers of comparatively 
immature students must be handled, moved about, and con- 
trolled in very limited space. Teachers often have classes as 
large as twenty -five or thirty; working periods are short, 
rarely exceeding an hour, except in special cases. Under these 



S84 THE INSTRUCTOR 

conditions a certain amount of " military " organization is 
often required. Again it is still largely assumed in regular 
schools that students must be forced to work; that they can- 
not be trusted to take care of themselves in a proper way and 
attend to their jobs as intelligent human beings. The best 
general school teachers have got away from this notion, and 
the discipline of a good modern school is much more like that 
of the production department in a good concern than it was a 
number of years ago. 

The conditions in shop training are entirely different; the 
learners are relatively mature, they know what they are there 
for; the groups are small, much of the instruction is carried 
out on the job in the shop or the yard; in general, none of the 
special conditions that were assumed to require "school dis- 
cipline" exist in a training department. 

The Sort of Discipline that should Exist in a Training Depart- 
ment. The discipline should not be essentially different from 
that of a good production department. The fact that the 
training organization is on the job of turning out training 
does not noticeably affect the question. The instructor has no 
need to feel that he must look out for his dignity; if he knows 
his job and knows how to teach it, the dignity question will take 
care of itself, because the men will respect him; if he does not 
know his trade and does not know how to instruct, his men will 
not respect him. In a good training scheme, where the organi- 
zation and the management is good, and the instructor knows 
his job, the question of discipline will become a very minor one. 

Conclusion. In conclusion it may be said that no amount 
of effective management will give good results unless it is 
handled by a man of sympathy, tact, and patience. Without 
these the best planned instruction will fail, the best organiza- 
tion will fail to work, the best management will fall down, and, 
above all, the instructor must be resourceful and able to make 
a " quick shift." The final suggestion on handling the gang can 
be summarized as follows : when you have planned as well as you 
can always figure that something is going to happen to interfere; 
that is, always be prepared for the unexpected, have an alternative 
plan and be ready to put it over always keep things moving. 



PART VIII 

ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING IN AN 
INDUSTRIAL PLANT 



285 



CHAPTER XXXVIH 
THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING 

Preliminary. In organizing training there are a number of 
questions that must be answered through the application of 
certain general principles. In general these questions are 
of two kinds. (1) Those relating to administrative organiza- 
tion and (2) those relating to educational or training organiza- 
tion. Good administrative conditions permit good training 
work to be done: make it possible. Training work organized 
according to sound educational principles gives effective re- 
sults. Both kinds of organization are needed if training is to 
be efficient. 

The following chapters present certain forms of administra- 
tive organization and certain educational principles which i* 
taken into consideration in organizing training will make for 
training efficiency. 

A. ADMINISTRATIVE ORGANIZATION 

In the past the tendency has been to organize with training 
as subsidiary to some other activity of the plant. Naturally, 
in the majority of cases it has been included in the organization 
for production. In other cases it has been organized on the 
theory that it was a part of the labor problem and has been 
made a part of the responsibility of the employment organiza- 
tion. Sometimes it has been thought of as an educational 
problem and on the theory that education was a part of 
the welfare work has been headed up into the welfare depart- 
ment. As a matter of fact training should be given in an 
independent department. 

The Training Department an Independent Department. 
Like any other department the training department has a job; 
it renders definite service by turning out a definite product. 
It is, of course, a service department, its service consisting in 

287 



288 THE INSTRUCTOR 

caking in men with less skill and trade knowledge and turning 
them out with more skill and trade knowledge. 

In order that the training department should be able to do 
its job it should be organized as a distinct department. There 
is no more reason for combining the training department 
with, say, the employment department, than there would 
be in combining the maintenance and the hull construction 
departments. If the different production departments of 
the plant must each have their own staff, their own head, 
their own organization suited to the particular job that they 
have to do, it is equally true that the training department 
should have its own staff, its own head, its own organization 
suited to the particular job that it has to do: any other or- 
ganization will only result in inefficiency. 

Why Training should be Given in an Independent Depart- 
ment. First, training to be really effective should cover the 
plant. It should not be confined to a selected few. There 
should be quantity training as well as quality training. A large 
number of men trained to do their various jobs in the best 
way is as important an efficiency asset as a few men trained 
on a few special jobs. Where this is done it makes enough 
of a job to warrant a distinct organization. 

Second, effective training is a job for specialists. To be 
carried on effectively it requires trained men who give all their 
time and attention to the training job. 

Third, the conditions for effective training are so different 
from the conditions under which the other activities of the 
plant are carried on, that it cannot be effectively carried on 
under the conditions required for good work in other depart- 
ments. 

Fourth, the training force must be under the direction of an 
expert head : a Director or Superintendent of Training. Such 
a Superintendent must be in a position to work cooperatively 
with the heads of the departments with which the training 
department must maintain working relations, hence he should 
be responsible to the same executive that other department heads 
are responsible to. 

Assuming the existence of a training department organized 
in accordance with the principles given above, the question of 



THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING 289 

its relation to other departments is of importance especially 
to the employment and production departments. 

B. THE RELATION OF THE TRAINING DEPARTMENT TO THE 
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENTS 

Preliminary. Under ordinary conditions, a very great pro- 
portion of the training that is given must be given in con- 
nection with jobs. Since job training must be carried on on 
production work and this work must come from the regular 
work of the plant, the relation set up is not merely a coopera- 
tive one, but calls for the setting up of definite working re- 
lations between the departments furnishing the work and the 
training department that uses it, since a condition of mutual 
responsibility is set up. 

The Character of the Relation. The Training Department, 
a Customer. The general relation of the training department 
to any given production department is similar to that of a 
man who wants something that another fellow has got (a 
customer), but who also knows that the particular thing that 
he wants is mixed in with a lot of other things that he does not 
want. He knows that what he wants is there somewhere, 
but he doesn't know where (strictly speaking, in some cases, 
he only guesses that it is there, and sometimes he guesses 
wrong). The general relation is therefore that of a customer 
and a dealer, with the training department as the customer 
and the production department as the dealer. It is therefore 
necessary that some effective working plan or method of 
procedure should be established to enable the "customer" 
and the "dealer" to work together in such a way that the 
"goods" can be delivered. 

Two Ways of Going at the Job. Two possible methods of 
going at the job may be illustrated by the different methods 
followed in a city store and in a country store. In the former 
the customer tells the salesman what he wants, the salesman 
finds it and brings it to the customer. If the customer knows 
exactly what he wants he may never sec the article until it is 
delivered, as in the case of mail orders. 

In the country store the customer often "looks around" 
19 



290 THE INSTRUCTOR 

through the stock to see if what he wants is there and, if he 
finds it, tells the clerk, or even sometimes brings it to the 
clerk, pays for it, and carries it off. 

The first method consists essentially in the customer's tell- 
ing the dealer exactly what he wants and leaving the dealer, 
who presumably knows his own stock, to fill the order. That 
is, the customer draws a requisition on the dealer, for the par- 
ticular thing that he wants, and the dealer fills the requisition. 

In the second case the customer draws no requisition, but 
undertakes to find what he wants himself and then tells the 
dealer that it is there and that he wants it. 

Evidently the "country store" method may work under 
country conditions; small stock, few customers, etc., but 
would not work with a large stock and many customers, 
since it would evidently cause too much confusion and mis- 
understandings. 

In the same way the method of procedure for securing 
work for instructional purposes might be based on either 
the "city store" idea or the "country store" idea. Under 
efficient training conditions, the "country store" idea will 
not work, the working plan for securing work must be based 
upon the "city store" idea, that is, on the use of requisitions 
and these requisitions must be handled according to a regular 
method of procedure, so as to avoid any confusion or crossed 
wires. 

The General Characteristics of a Proper Working Relation. 
The general plan of organization on which any detailed method 
of procedure should be based may be illustrated as follows: 
At the request of the training department, a production depart- 
ment assigns suitable jobs or classes of work to the training 
department. The production department indicates so far 
as may be necessary, how the work is to be done, but has no 
responsibility for the men under training or for the supervision 
of the training work, that being entirely the responsibility of 
the training department. Such work when completed is, of 
course, turned back to the production department, inspected, 
and if good, accepted. 

During the use of this work for instructional purposes the 
men under training are under the authority of the instruc- 



THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING 291 

tor, not under that of the production foreman though, of 
course, cooperative relations must be maintained between 
them. 

This puts the training department essentially in the position 
of a sub-contractor, taking on certain work, doing it with his 
own men, who are responsible to him, and turning in the 
finished work. 

As an illustration of how such a procedure could be worked 
out in practice, the different steps in such a method are given 
below. 

A Working Plan. A practical working procedure for carry- 
ing out this general plan would involve the following steps : 

(1) An instructor draws requisitions on the office of 

the Director for work that meets his instructional 
needs this may, of course, be more than one kind 
of a job, but a job that fits the type job specifications. 

(2) The Director draws a requisition on the proper de- 

partment for the sort of work that will meet the 
specifications. 

(3) The department on which the work requisition is 

drawn either finds work that will serve, that is, fills 
the requisition, returns it to the Director's office with 
all necessary information as to where the work can 
be found, or, as might happen, finds that it cannot 
"deliver the goods," in which case the requisition 
would come back with that information. 

(4) The Director's office notifies the instructor that 

his requisition can, or cannot be filled, and if it can 
be filled furnishes him with all necessary information 
as to place, quantity, etc., so that the instructor can 
make the necessary assignments. 

(5) The instructor puts his man onto the work as indi- 

cated and instructs him on the job. When the in- 
struction value of the job is exhausted he takes his 
man off and notifies the Director's office that he is 
finished with that job. 

(6) The Director's office then notifies the production 

department to take over the work. 



292 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Of course the plan of procedure just outlined is only one 
of a number that could be developed, it is presented here 
as an illustration of how the relations between the two depart- 
ments could be worked out on a proper basis, so that responsi- 
bility is fixed at all steps of the procedure, and the danger of 
misunderstandings and "lost motion" is reduced to a mini- 
mum. 

The Coordinator. In connection with the effective opera- 
tion of such a plan as that just described, it has been found 
that the work can be carried on much more efficiently if a 
certain man in each department (or, in a small plant, possibly 
one man for all departments) is designated as the representa- 
tive of that department, and if a man from the staff of the 
training department performs a corresponding function for 
that department. Such men are often called coordinators 
and may be designated as Training Coordinators and Produc- 
tion Coordinators respectively. 

The Job of the Production Coordinator. The production 
coordinator must be acquainted with all the work that is 
going on and which will be coming on in the department or 
the departments that he represents, where it will be located, 
who will be the foreman in charge, and, in general, be in 
possession of all information necessary for the filling of re- 
quisitions for work from the training department. He is, 
for the purposes of this work, the representative of his depart- 
ment acting under authority delegated to him for this purpose 
by the head of his department. 

The Job of the Training Coordinator. In the practical 
working out of such a working plan as described there are 
always many adjustments to be made. The training co- 
ordinator must know the training department and also the 
yard, so that he can, in conference with the production co- 
ordinator, attend to necessary adjustments and details. In 
practice, the production coordinator will not be familiar 
with instructional requirements (proper instructional condi- 
tions, etc.), and most of this knowledge will have to be supplied 
by I the training coordinator. Again, there will often be cases 
where work of the exact type called for cannot be found but 



THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING 293 

where the training coordinator, if he knows the instructional 
use to which it is to be put, can suggest modification that will 
permit the requisition to be filled fairly well. 

As a matter of fact, it will generally be found that the train- 
ing coordinator will have to do most of the adjusting, since 
it will frequently happen that the production coordinator 
will have other duties and responsibilities. 

Just as the production coordinator represents his depart- 
ment head, so the training coordinator represents the Director, 
and acts under delegated authority for the special purposes 
implied in his function. 

The Limitation of the Field of the Coordinator An 
effective coordinator will carefully confine himself to his 
function, that of arranging for the filling of requisitions for 
work as they come to him from the instructor through 
the Director's office. He is not himself an instructor, it 
is not his function to undertake to determine what work 
should be given, but only to see that the work that is 
given fits the specifications. A coordinator that confuses 
his function with that of an instructor can cause endless 
confusion. 

Advantages of the Plan. A properly worked out plan 
which includes the use of requisitions that originate with the 
instructor, and includes the use of coordinators has several 
advantages. In the first place it fixes responsibility, in the 
second place it provides a uniform method of procedure, in the 
third place it provides for the designating of definite individuals 
whose job it is to see that the details of the plan are regularly 
carried out and to make any necessary adjustments in practice, 
in the fourth place it permits the work to be carried out 
rapidly and effectively with the minimum opportunity for 
misunderstandings and crossed wires. Lastly these results 
are secured with the minimum amount of "red tape" compat- 
ible with the efficient doing of the job. 

A plan including these characteristics should therefore 
be adopted for carrying out the relations between the training 
and the production departments so far as securing instructional 
work goes. 



294 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The Necessity for Informal Conference. As in any other 
case, whatever the plan adopted, it will work efficiently or 
inefficiently in proportion to the tact and patience of those 
affected by it. Informal conferences between the training 
coordinator and the instructors, in which the coordinator 
finds out just what the instructor wants to do, conferences of 
a similar nature between the production coordinator and the 
training coordinator, as well as between both coordinators 
and the production foremen, are, of course, essential. Any 
attempt to carry on the work on a purely official basis alone, 
will, of course, only lead to inefficiency and failure. 

C. THE RELATION OF THE TRAINING DEPARTMENT TO THE 
EMPLOYMENT DEPARTMENT 

Preliminary. The employment department bears much 
the same relation to the training department that the training 
department bears to the production department. If the 
employment department has a man who needs training it 
calls on the training department to furnish that training; it 
is the "customer/* the training department is the "seller." 
This relation has been often lost sight of because the functions 
of the two departments have been confused, and, because an 
employment department places men in production because of 
their skill, it has been assumed that where a man lacked skill 
it was the business of the employment department to furnish 
it. That is, such training schemes as have been established 
heretofore have frequently been thought of as part of the job 
of the employment department. 

The question of the proper relation of the training depart- 
ment to the employment department is therefore discussed in 
these notes, especially from the standpoint of its effect on the 
work of the instructor. 

The Job of the Employment Department. The job of 
the employment department consists essentially in knowing 
where there is a job without a man to do it and in finding a 
man that can do that job. It can get two kinds of men : 
somebody that has already learned how to do the job, in which 
case all that is necessary is to bring the man and the job to- 



THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING 295 

gether, or men that can be taught how to do the job by turning 
them over to somebody whose business is training. In this 
case, after the men have been trained, they are on a level 
with the first kind of men and the employment department 
can then place them. 

The training department must therefore come in as an 
intermediary between the employment department and the 
production department whenever a man has to be equipped 
with additional skill or knowledge before he can be put on the 
job. 

The Proper Working Relation of the Training and the 
Employment Departments. The proper working relations 
of the two departments should therefore be through some 
system of requisitions similar to that discussed in connection 
with the relations of the training department and the produc- 
tion departments. That is, the man should be employed by 
the employment department and then, if he needs training, 
he should be turned over to the training department with a 
"requisition" calling for the sort of training that he needs. 
This training department should "fill" this requisition and 
then return the man to the employment department. The 
employment department would then proceed as it would 
have done had the man known how to do the job when he was 
first employed. The principle on which such a working method 
should be based should be that employing and placing men 
and furnishing training are two distinct jobs, each of which 
can best be done by an organization especially established to 
do that job. 

The Proper Method of Procedure. According to a proper 
method of procedure the following steps would be taken: 

1. The man would be employed by the employment de- 
partment. 

2. The employment department would determine whether 
he could be placed at once on some needed work, because he 
knew how to do it, or that he required some sort of training 
before he could do the job. 

3. In case the man needed some sort of training the em, 
ployment department, from a study of his past work and his 



9G THE INSTRUCTOR 

other qualifications would determine what sort of training 
he needed and would send him with a requisition calling for 
that particular training to the training department. 

4. The training department would fill the requisition by 
training the man as rapidly and efficiently as possible. 

5. The training department would send the trained man 
to the employment department. 

6. The employment department would then place him 
as if he had been competent when he was first employed. 

What Department Does the "Sorting"? It will be noticed 
that under the above suggested procedure the determination 
of the sort of training required by any given man is made 
by the employment department and not by the training de- 
partment, which confines itself strictly to its job of giving 
training. This draws a clean cut line between the functions 
of the two departments and tends to prevent much confusion 
and difficulty. The two departments must, of course, work 
in the closest cooperation: the Director of the training de- 
partment and the Head of the employment department must 
"sit in together" all the time, but the "sorting out" of men 
to be trained and of men that do not need training, and the 
determination of the character of training required in the 
case of any given man should be officially the responsibility 
of the employment department. This is true for a number of 
reasons, among the more important of which are: 

1. The employment department is the only one that is in a 
position to know the needs of all the departments in the yard. 

2. It is the department that has the job of meeting those 
needs as they arise. 

3. It is in the best position to ascertain just what the 
requirements of any given job are. 

4. It is in a position to obtain records of the past trade 
experiences of the men and to size them up at time that they 
apply for employment, which is the best time to secure such 
information. 

A method of procedure similar to that suggested above 
is therefore to be recommended in the establishment of a 
working plan to effectively carry out the relations of the two 
departments, 



THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING 297 

How such a Plan Affects the Instructor, Under the opera- 
tion of such a plan as that just outlined, the instructor will 
not "pick out his men at the gate" but will get his men and 
the "training requisitions" that go with them from the Direc- 
tor of the department. Should a man prove " unteachable " 
the instructor will report the fact to the Director, not to the 
employment manager. Should a man be O. K.'d as properly 
trained or dropped from the group, he will be returned to the 
office of the Director, not to that of the employment depart- 
ment. 

Such a plan relieves the instructor of all work except that 
of instructing, and, to that extent, makes for efficient instruc- 
tional conditions. 

D. THE RELATION OF THE TRAINING DEPARTMENT TO THE 
WELFARE DEPARTMENT 

Preliminary. It has already been briefly pointed out that 
there is a tendency to confuse the jobs of the welfare depart- 
ment and of the training department, that is, to think of 
training as a species of welfare work. It has therefore seemed 
worth while to include in these notes some discussion of the 
relation of these tvo departments. 

The Jobs of the Two Departments. The training depart- 
ment is organized to instruct and train : the welfare department 
is organized to promote the general welfare of the men. It 
may concern itself with the working conditions, with questions 
of general health and sanitation, with the promotion of those 
things that will aid the men "to get more out of life," it 
might even concern itself with matters of general education, 
as when it encourages men to learn to speak English, or 
encourage the formation of classes in citizenship. All these 
things and many others are extremely valuable services, but 
they have nothing to do with training a given man so that he 
can do a given kind of work. That is the job and the only job 
of the training department. 

As a matter of fact, if we clearly see what a training depart- 
ment is for, what its job is, we see that except as any depart- 
ment would cooperate with any other department, there is 



298 THE INSTRUCTOR 

no relation between the Training Department and the Welfare 
Department. Each has its own job and the less the two 
jobs are mixed the better work will both departments do. 

Where a clear distinction has not been drawn between the 
functions of the two departments the staff of a training de- 
partment often feel that they are on a welfare job as well as 
on an instructing job and the instruction suffers accordingly. 

E. ORGANIZATION FOR TAKING ON AND DISCHARGING MEN 

Preliminary. Since any training department must take 
in men who lack certain training and discharge them after 
they have secured such training, some effective organization 
is called for to handle this problem. Some "machinery" 
must be set up that will get men into the instruction groups, 
take care of them while they are under instruction and dis- 
charge them from the group and from the department when 
their training is completed. 

Organization for Taking Men into Training. The most 
efficient type of organization for this purpose will be one that 
keeps the function of the training department clearly in mind 
and does not bring in the function of any other department. 
As an illustration it may be said that it is not uncommon to 
find training departments that have included in their organiza- 
tion provision for sorting out the men in addition to training 
them, or to find departments so organized that more or less 
provision is made for "welfare work" as well as for training 
work. Such organizations are not efficient; the more closely 
a training department sticks to its job, that of training, 
and only training, in its organization, leaving work that 
should be done by other departments to those departments, 
the more efficient will be the training work that is put over. 
On the other hand the more a training department organizes 
for doing any work that is not strictly its job, the less efficient 
will be its work. 

The best organization for taking men into the department 
will be one that provides for the men being sent to the office 
of the director from the employment department with some- 
thing corresponding to a requisition for training. The em- 



THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING S99 

ployment department should, in effect, say to the training 
department, "Here is a man that lacks certain training; 
give it to him, and when you have done so, send him back to 
us." 

The organization should further provide that the man 
should be assigned to a proper instructional group and that 
the instructor in charge of that group should be properly 
informed as to the requirements of that particular case. 

In this way the instructor would be left free to attend to 
the business of instruction, which is his business. 

The organization should not be such that the instructor 
is expected to pick out his men at the gate, or to spend much 
time in determining what training the man should have; 
this work should be done by the office of the employment 
department. 

Organization for Getting Men out of the Department. 
In the same way, in order that the training department shall 
be left free to attend to its job without any other responsibili- 
ties, the best organization would provide that a man, on the 
completion of his training, as certified to by his instructor, 
should be sent back to the employment department, not to the 
production department for which he has been trained, leaving 
it to the employment department to place him as it would 
a man who knew his job when he was employed first. The 
situation with the trained man is that he has now the same 
status as the competent workman who was hired by the 
employment department and sent directly to a production 
department, only the training experience has intervened be- 
tween his hiring and his being put to work on production. 

F. THE SPECIAL JOB OF THE DIRECTOR OF A TRAINING DE- 
PARTMENT 

Preliminary. Under the most efficient organization the 
Director is the head of the Training Department. He has 
full charge of all matters pertaining to the training or "break- 
ing in" of workers and has general supervision of the depart- 
ment. He has full charge of all workers under training in the 
plant. He directs the work of the instructors, organizes 



300 THE INSTRUCTOR 

special schemes for training, inspects the efficiency of the in- 
struction and renders every assistance possible to enable the 
instructors to do effective work. The Director should have 
the standing of a department head. The Director of training 
and the instructors should devote their entire time and atten- 
tion to the work of training and should not be charged with the 
usual duties of production foremen. 

The following paragraphs discuss some of the more impor- 
tant duties of the Director as distinguished from those of the 
other members of the instructing staff of the training depart- 
ment. 

The Job of the Director as Distinguished from that of the 
Instructor. The Director is, in general, the Superintendent of 
Training; the instructing staff constitutes the working force. 
He is the man who is ultimately responsible for the efficiency 
of the training, for the development of the organization that 
makes efficient training possible, and for the smooth running 
of that organization. It may be said in general, that a large 
portion of the work of the director is to bring about and 
maintain such conditions that the work of the instructors 
can be carried out effectively and under the best working 
(instructional) conditions. 

The instructor, on the other hand, has the responsibility, 
under the Director, of "delivering the goods." of putting over 
the instruction. He deals directly with the instructional 
groups, he comes directly in contact with the men. The 
problems of "gang management" are largely his problems. 
Under good conditions he is responsible for the quality of the 
instruction, for the way in which the men are taught to do the 
jobs, for the proper passing out of the auxiliary information, 
for the selection of proper methods. That is, the conditions 
are much the same as they would be in a good production 
gang where each man knew his job and the foreman or super- 
intendent knew how the job should be done and exercised a 
general supervision of the work of the department. 

Neither the director nor the instructors can do the work 
alone; each must do his part, and it is important that each 
should know his part in the work of the department as a whole. 
Confusion on the part of either the instructors or the Director 



THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING 301 

as to relative duties and responsibilities will cause confusion, 
"crossed wires" and unnecessary loss in efficiency. 

Special Functions of the Director. The Director must 
have a clear view of the general plan; he must know what can 
be done in any given case and the best way of doing it. He 
must, for example, decide such questions as the relative degree 
of trade extension work, conversion work and trade training 
that the department can furnish, and give that information 
to the employment department. He must be able to look 
ahead and be prepared to meet coming demands. 

The director must also assume the responsibility for the 
particular type of organization that may be adopted; for 
the special methods of procedure that may be followed; for 
the proper carrying out of these methods of procedure, as, 
for example, in forms of reports, etc. 

The Director must also represent the department in all 
cooperative relations that may be established with other 
departments. 

He must also be the supervisor. 

We have therefore as the special responsibility of the 
Director: 

1. Organization. 

2. Supervision. 

3. Cooperation with other departments. 

4. General planning. 

Along these lines he must assume full responsibility. He 
may delegate authority but he cannot, under good working 
conditions, give up authority in these fields. Nobody can do 
these jobs for him. 

The Necessity for Cooperation. While it is true that the 
Director has the final authority since he has the final responsi- 
bility, it is also true that no training department can be 
efficient unless the whole staff work in cooperation form a 
team. The Director and the staff must pull together. For 
work of this character a "one man" organization, with the 
Director as the one man, cannot carry on the work as it should 
be carried on. 



303 THE INSTRUCTOR 

One of the problems of the Director is to secure and main- 
tain such cooperation. He must act as a leader, and as a 
part of his "leadership" must confer frequently with his 
staff, both at stated staff meetings and through individual 
and even group conferences. 

The Director as a Training Leader. A very important part 
of the work of the Director is that of acting as a *' leader " 
for the instructing staff. The instructors are, by virtue of 
their work, pretty closely tied down and the Director must 
furnish the helpful suggestions and the general view that can 
come from the supervisor and from no one else. There is 
great danger that a Director may neglect this side of his work, 
especially under the pressure of routine administrative work, 
but he should insist on sufficient help to enable him to carry 
out this side of his work effectively. Among the most effec- 
tive means of doing this work are the staff conference and the 
individual conference. 

The Value of the Staff Conference. The efficient Director 
will make a great deal of use of the staff conference. In 
order that these conferences shall be effective he must see to 
it that they are really worth while; that there is a program 
and that it is carried out. Nothing will do more to weaken 
the value of the staff conference than to bring the staff to- 
gether for aimless discussion. An excellent method is to send 
out a memorandum in advance covering the points that are 
to be discussed and to hold the discussion strictly to those 
points. It is in staff meetings that the Director can get the 
concensus of opinion as to the desirability of a certain contem- 
plated plan of procedure, or of the way in which a certain 
proposition is working out. 

The Value of the Individual Conference. The staff con- 
ference is greatly reduced in value unless it is supplemented 
by many individual conferences with members of the staff. 
Staff conferences serve to bring out general opinions and allows 
an opportunity for general discussion, but the individual 
conference will give opportunity for the taking up of individual 
points and receiving individual points of view that, in many 
cases, would not come out in the general conference. 



THE ORGANIZATION FOR TRAINING 303 

The value of the individual conference with regard to the 
work of the individual instructor is obvious. 

The Director as an Instructor. The director must himself 
be a competent instructor in the sense that he must be familiar 
with the principles of good teaching. Unless he has this fa- 
miliarity he cannot properly supervise the instructing work of 
the staff. 

The General Relation of the Director and the Staff .Just 
as the effectiveness of the work of an instructor depends on the 
establishment of the right relations between the instructor 
and the members of the group, so the effectiveness of the work 
of the Training Department depends largely on the setting up 
of the right relations between the Director and the members of 
the instructing staff, and much that has been said in these 
notes in connection with instructional management will apply 
with equal force to the problems of departmental management. 
The general value of tact, patience, helpful criticism, realiza- 
tion that men must gradually develop increased power and 
ability, hold here as well as in the instructing group, especially 
as in many training departments instructors after only a brief 
training, are dealing for the first time with the problems of 
"how to put it over." 




CHAPTER XXXIX 
INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKKEEPING 

Preliminary. Whenever a product is turned out there is a 
necessity for the keeping of certain records : cost records, time 
records, production records and so on. In the same way a 
Training Department, turning out a product, training, must 
provide for some form of "instructional bookkeeping.'* 

This section discusses some of the more important features 
of such "bookkeeping" for a training department especially 
as the demands of such a system affect the instructor. 

Why Records are Necessary. Any particular business re- 
quires records that will give the information that will answer 
certain questions. The answers to these questions tell those 
engaged in the business whether they are succeeding or not, 
whether it is possible to do the work any better, or any cheaper, 
whether methods can or can not be improved and so on. 
The particular questions asked in each case depend upon the 
nature of the business and upon just what those in charge 
wish to know. 

Collecting and Recording. Where such records are kept 
it has to be made somebody's business to get the data and to 
record it, but often one set of people furnish the information 
and another set of people record it, so we have what is often 
called the recording department of a business, which very often 
depends upon other people to collect what it records. 

A considerable part of the information required by a record- 
ing department can only be given by people who got it at first 
hand it must be noted down by the people who are doing 
the* job. Other information can be collected by other people, 
but, in all cases it must be brought together, studied, and the 
desired questions answered according to the data as obtained 
and recorded. 

304 



INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKKEEPING 305 

A discussion of records must therefore include answers to 
the following questions: 

(1) Why records must be kept. 

(2) What sort of records must be kept. 

(3) How the records should be kept and who is to 

(a) Collect the information and report it. 

(b) Record or compile it. 

A. WHY RECORDS MUST BE KEPT IN A TRAINING DEPARTMENT 

Preliminary. In general, records must be kept by a training 
department for the same reasons that they would be kept by 
any other department, but in addition, the special conditions 
under which emergency training is carried on require the 
keeping of certain additional records. 

Among the more important reasons for which records 
must be kept are: 

(1) As a check on the work, as when an instructor con- 

sults his progression chart in order that he may 
determine what sort of a job a man should be given 
next, or when the Director wants to know in what 
group there is a vacancy for a man who is to be given 
a certain training. (Checking records.) 

(2) To secure data for improving the efficiency of the 

work, as when the time required to train for the 
same job by different instructors is compared in order 
to find out the best methods. (Efficiency records.) 

(3) To determine whether or not any given piece of train- 

ing work is worth doing, as when it is desired to deter- 
mine for example, whether rivet sorters can be trained 
to any advantage. (Justification records.) 

(4) As a basis for administrative action, as when a man is 

discharged on the basis of his progression record, his 
production record, etc. (Administrative records.) 

In all these cases and in similar ones not mentioned in 
these notes, the records are made for definite reasons in order 
to answer definite questions, or to give a basis for definite 
action. 



306 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Why Checking Records are Needed. The general purpose 
for which checking records are kept is to enable those in 
charge of the work to know "where they are at" at any 
given time. The instructor must know what stage a given 
man has reached in the instructional order before he can 
determine what sort of a job the man should have next, he 
must know whether his men are all present, and if not, 
who is absent, the Director's office must know what men 
are working under each instructor and where they can be 
found. If an instructor O. K.'s a man as properly trained 
there must be a record of that fact before the man is 
turned over to the employment department or sent into 
production work. 

Unless all such facts, and many others, are made matters 
of record, the department is in the condition of a ship at sea 
with no means of determining where she is, and everybody 
on her simply guessing as to her whereabouts. 

Checking records are almost invariably records of facts; 
these facts are known to somebody, but if they are not re- 
corded, if that particular individual cannot be reached or if 
he has forgotten, the information is not available or is lost 
forever. A business that is conducted on a memory basis is 
not in good shape, sooner or later there will be trouble. Some 
questions that need to be answered cannot be answered 
because the man who knew has forgotten, or cannot be found, 
or has gone somewhere else. 

In a training department well organized as to checking 
records it ought to be possible to answer all questions of this 
sort without depending in any way on the personal knowledge 
of anybody, in fact, if the entire staff were to be "wiped out" 
it ought to be possible for perfect strangers to step in, deter- 
mine just what the situation was and go on with the work 
from that point. 

The department without an efficient system of checking 
records is in the condition of a little country store where the 
proprietor "keeps his accounts in his head." Such a store 
usually eventually goes out of business and a department 
trying to do its checking in the same "backwoods" way, 
cannot do efficient work. 



INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKKEEPING 307 

Why Efficiency Records are Needed. Distinct and apart 
from the question of checking records is the matter of efficiency 
records. The purpose of such records is to enable those in 
charge of the work (instructors, the director, the Industrial 
Training Department) to study their work in order to see how 
it can be improved. For this purpose it must be possible to 
compare the efficiency of the training work as given under 
one set of conditions (instructor, methods, yard, etc.) with 
that obtained under other conditions. Emergency training 
calls for training to be given as rapidly and as efficiently as 
possible. Unless we keep track of our work in this respect 
we have no means of knowing if we can do the job any better 
than we are doing it. 

Much of the training work is in the nature of an experiment. 
Up to the present time but little attention has been paid to 
problems relating to the best methods of training men ef- 
ficiently and rapidly. The only way to secure such knowledge 
is by the keeping of such records as will show the speed of 
training under different instructional conditions, both in a 
given training department and in different departments. 
For example, suppose that one concern is operating a number 
of plants with training departments and that a department 
in one plant succeeds in training men for a certain job in a 
certain time, say two weeks, while another training depart- 
ment trains men for the same job in a longer time, say six 
weeks. If these facts are a matter of record, and the "time 
training" records of the two departments can be compared 
this fact will come out and the method used for the more 
rapid training can be studied and the information as to how it 
was done can be given to all training departments so that that 
particular training can be speeded up all along the line. 
Thus the information as to the more rapid method of training 
becomes of value to all engaged in the work instead of only 
being known to the instructor who developed it, or even not 
known to him because he might not know that he had done a 
better job than the instructors in some other yards, unless he 
had records, the other men had records, and these records 
could be compared by somebody whose business it was to 
look out for just such things. 



806 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The question of the establishment of "improvement re- 
cords" that can be effectively used is therefore of great impor- 
tance in emergency training where speed and efficiency are 
such important factors. 

Why "Justification" Records are Needed. A training 
department is only of value when it can be shown that it is 
doing its job better than the job has been done before. For 
example, men have entered the different trades and have 
learned their jobs somehow. They have acquired a certain 
degree of skill in a certain time. This is true even when they 
"stole" their trades. Every man working in a shop to-day 
has secured his training somehow. A training department, to 
justify its maintenance, must therefore be able to show that 
it is doing the training job better than it has been done before. 
It is not really doing a new job but only doing an old job, 
and is established and maintained to do that old job in a 
better way; to do it more quickly and more efficiently. If it 
cannot show this, it has no reason for existence. It must be 
possible therefore for the training department to secure such 
facts as will enable it to answer the question "Are you doing a 
better training job than was done before" in the affirmative, 
and prove it. This can only be done if suitable records are 
kept. 

It should not be forgotten that, especially for certain 
trades, definitely planned training is still on trial; many 
foremen still believe that the best way to train a man is to set 
him to work in the production department and let him learn 
as he can from observation and from what he can get from 
other workmen and from the foreman himself. In many 
cases these men are honestly "from Missouri" as to the value 
of training in a distinct department with trained instructors; 
the right sort of records are necessary in order that they may 
be "shown." 

Questions of this sort may even come up with respect 
to the value of planned training in certain trades; for example, 
it is sometimes said that the only shipyard trades that require 
training are mould loft work and shipfitting. The others can 
all be picked up on the job. A training department would 
not take this view, but, in order to show that it was right and 



INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKKEEPING 309 

the other fellow wrong, there must be definite information 
obtained and recorded as to the facts in the case, as, for 
example, the time required to train men to the same degree of 
skill inside and outside of the department, etc. 

An effective system of "justification" records is therefore 
a very necessary part of the instructional bookkeeping of a 
training department. 

Why Administrative Records are Necessary. In many cases 
the Director, in discharging his responsibility, must act on the 
reports or opinions of his staff, or, in certain cases, with refer- 
ence to standards that have been established and which must 
have been met if certain action (discharging a man to the 
employment department as trained, for example) is or is not 
to be taken. In case of criticism his only defense is the data 
on which he acted. This is just as true of an instructor; 
if he recommends that a man be dropped, as unteachable, 
he must have his records to show as the basis for his action, 
and if he has not done this he may find himself unable to 
justify his action at some future time, or even immediately in 
case of protest. Instructors often only come to an apprecia- 
tion of the value of records of this sort after a number of very 
disagreeable experiences, as for example, when he has made a 
recommendation based on facts that he had in his head, but had 
not recorded, and later, when he had forgotten the facts on 
which he acted, a question came up as to why he acted as he 
did, and he could not answer it. 

B. WHAT SORT OF RECORDS SHOULD BE KEPT BY A TRAIN- 
ING DEPARTMENT 

Preliminary. This section suggests the general character 
of the records that should be kept by a training department. 
No attempt has been made to do more than suggest the main 
points that should be covered and to present reasons why 
covering such points is worth the expenditure of time and 
money involved. The purpose of presenting them is merely 
to indicate the general character of such records, and to give 
the prospective instructor and others a general understanding 
of what they are rather than to enter into any special details. 



310 THE INSTRUCTOR 

" Checking Records." Records of this character will, in 
general, include, among others: 

(1) Records dealing with men. 

(2) Records dealing with material. 

(3) Records dealing with instructional work. 

(4) Records dealing with costs. 

For each of these classes recording systems must be operated. 
The following paragraphs discuss briefly some of the more im- 
portant points to be taken into consideration in this connection. 

Records Dealing with Men The department must know 
where each man should be and that he is there. Hence, as in any 
school or factory there must be attendance records. Records 
of this kind are not difficult to keep up and, in whatever form 
they may be called for, usually offer no special difficulties. 

The department must also know when a man began his 
training and when he completed it. The reasons for this are 
obvious. "Man" records will therefore consist at least of: 

(a) Records of Admission and Discharge. 

(b) Records of Attendance. 

Records Dealing with Materials. In order that these 
men may be trained, material must be used. When instruc- 
tional material is used, somebody must be responsible for it, 
whenever a job is turned over to the training department for 
instructional work, records must be made as to where it came 
from, what instructor is using it and when he got through with 
it. In all such cases the records would deal with material, 
when it came, where it came from, who used it and when 
it was returned or finished. This calls for a suitable system 
of requisitions and receipts, as in any business. 

Records dealing with materials would therefore include at 
least : 

(1) Records of requisitions for instructional material. 

(2) Records of the delivery of completed work. 

(3) Records as to the filling of requisitions by the depart- 

ment on which it was drawn. 

(4) Records fixing responsibility for all material in the 

custody of the department. 



INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKKEEPING 311 

Records Dealing with Instructional Work. Men under 
training must be put through a definite instructional order. 
Records should show the stage that each man has reached 
at all times, in order that the instructor may properly plan 
his work; they should show whether the man was put through 
the whole instructional course or only through some portion 
of it (as in the case of trade extension men), and, in so far as 
may be necessary, data with regard to the size of the group 
at any given time, or other teaching conditions that may be 
of importance. 

Such records would therefore at least include: 

(1) The stage that each man had reached in his progression 

at any given time. 

(2) The particular training that was to be given him. 

(3) The amount of training that he was to be given as 

measured against the complete instructional course 
for that trade. 

(4) The teaching conditions. 

(5) The instructor's estimate at any time as to the man's 

attitude, intelligence, capacity, etc., and on which he 
finally bases his recommendation for discharge from 
the group. 

Records Dealing with Costs. In common with any depart- 
ment in a production plant the operation of a training depart- 
ment involves expenditures of money, which is charged to the 
department and product whose value is credited to the depart- 
ment. In an ordinary production department the product 
is work whose value can be easily determined. In the case 
of the training department, its product is of two kinds, produc- 
tion material as a "by-product" of training, and its direct 
product, training itself. Cost records must therefore show 
not only operating costs, and material credits, but also the 
value of the training. In addition to the ordinary financial 
accounts the training department must therefore work out 
and operate a system of records showing the value of its train- 
ing to the yard. 

Up to the present time but little attention has been paid 
to this side of the cost records in training departments, and 



312 THE INSTRUCTOR 

the problem of working out a satisfactory system is, admittedly 
difficult. The following suggestions may be of value. The 
" credit" value of training would appear in such items as 
increased productive power in its trained men as compared 
with that of men who had "picked up" or " stolen" the trade. 
It might appear in reduced junking due to lack of skill or 
carelessness, or in increased earning power. 

With the greater trade intelligence and skill that should 
come from definitely planned and effective training, men who 
have been trained to do their work well from the start are 
more likely to be satisfied with their jobs, so, that all other 
conditions being equal, the results of the work of a training 
department should show in a reduction of turn over, and in a 
longer period of employment. Men trained to do their work 
under competent instructors should work faster and more 
skillfully so that results of training should show in increased 
speed of production and a smaller junk pile. 

While data relating to such information as that suggested 
above might be difficult to obtain, it will probably be necessary 
to attempt to work some recording system to obtain at least 
a part of it. If no more can be done in the present state of our 
knowledge it would seem to be highly desirable that at least a 
record should be kept for each man after he leaves the depart- 
ment and that, so far as possible, all information bearing on 
the questions discussed above be secured, since a part of the 
justification data for the maintenance of a training department 
may lie outside of the field of direct costs and credits. 

It is suggested therefore that some system of "following up" 
men after they leave the training department, that would 
include production, reduction of waste, and earning power 
should be maintained. Of course such information would 
only be of value if checked against corresponding data for 
men who had not been trained in the department. 

Summary. A training department should therefore in 
some way, provide for records covering men, material, in- 
structional work and costs, and should also provide for such 
additional "justification" records as may be necessary. Re- 
cords for men should, at least, include attendance, admission 
and discharge. Records for material should show at least, 



INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKKEEPING 313 

what it was, who was responsible for it, what it was used for 
and what became of it. Instructional records should show 
at least, the position of each man in the instructional order, 
and the data on which the instructor forms his opinion as to 
new work and the man's being ready for discharge. Cost 
records should show both expenditures and credits, including 
values due to increased production or to better work due 
training. "Justification records," in addition to the in- 
formation that is contained in the records noted above, 
should be used so far as necessary. Probably the most 
valuable record in this connection is an individual follow 
up record for each man after he leaves the department and 
goes to work. 

C. HOW RECORDS SHOULD BE KEPT IN A TRAINING 
DEPARTMENT 

Preliminary. The form in which records are kept is almost 
as important as the keeping of the records themselves. Records 
are only of value if they can be used, and the form in which 
they are kept determines, to a large extent, their availability. 

In these notes no attempt has been made to indicate the 
exact form in which records should be kept, since that is a 
matter of the special organization of each department, but 
some general suggestions may be of value. 

The Value of Clear Records. Whatever records may be 
kept, their value is increased in proportion to their simplicity 
and clearness. It is a great advantage to keep information 
that is to be used for one purpose separate from that used for 
another purpose. A common mistake is to attempt to con- 
solidate too many different kinds of information in one form. 
For example, it is much better to keep attendance records dis- 
tinct from production records, or from time training records. 

The Value of Using a Good Form in which to Keep Records.--- 
A great deal of thought and attention has been given to working 
out devices for recording different sorts of information in the 
best way. Of these the two most important are either adapta- 
tions of the graph or "curve," or of the so-called "loose leaf" 
or "card" system. 



S14 THE INSTRUCTOR 

The Value of Graphed or Diagramed Records. Whenever 
the required information can be secured by checking on a list 
of items or by drawing a line, or curve, or by using a diagram 
much time is saved for the recorder. Thus for example, if 
an instructor will lay out his instructional order of jobs on 
paper he can draw an instruction line (as in Pamphlet 1), 
that will show the position of each learner correctly and easily. 
Many uses of the graph principle will suggest themselves. 
Where it can be applied it is the most time saving device 
for the recording of information that can be used. 

The use of the instruction line as described in Pamphlet 
1, in connection with the unit and spiral methods of progression 
is an illustration of how the diagram can be used to advantage 
in instructional recording. Time required for training different 
men, or training the same man on different jobs can be easily 
shown by this method. It finds many applications in the 
practice of many recording departments. 

The Value of the " Card Method." Fully as valuable in 
certain cases is the use of the "card system." It is finding 
a greater and greater use in recording methods. It can be 
adapted to nearly all requirements, but is especially valuable 
where new information may have to be added from time to 
time or where the information may have to be brought together 
in more than one way; or rearranged from time to time. 

Probably almost any records required in a training depart- 
ment can be efficiently recorded and used if use is made of 
either the graph method or the card method as the require- 
ments of that special case may require. A good illustration of 
the value of the card method is its adaptation to the getting 
out of an effective instructional order as described in Pamphlet 
1, where continued changes and readjustments are easily 
made that would be very difficult were the different teaching 
units listed out on sheets of paper. 

The Untrained Instructor and the Form of Records. The 
untrained instructor is very likely not to be informed as to 
the existence of labor saving devices for records, or is not 
inclined to study their possible value in record systems. 
Sometimes he will keep his records on scraps of paper, or in a 



INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKKEEPING 315 

little blank book without realizing that scraps of paper are 
easily lost and that, in the use of the blank book, he often has 
to copy lists of names, or rearrange them, all of which takes 
time that a card system would save him. In general an in- 
structor, so far as he keeps records as a part of the instructional 
bookkeeping of the department, cannot afford to use any but 
the most up to date and efficient recording devices, this is, 
of course, equally true of the department as a whole. 

It will pay the instructor to acquaint himself with the 
various devices for easy recording that are now on the market 
and consider their availability for the work of the training 
department, especially in the line of saving time and energy. 

D. WHO SHOULD KEEP THE DIFFERENT SORTS OF RECORDS 
IN A TRAINING DEPARTMENT 

Preliminary. The preceding paragraphs have discussed 
the need for records, the general kinds of records called for 
and the desirability of keeping these records in proper form. 
These records must be kept by somebody, and the following 
paragraphs discuss this phase of instructional bookkeeping. 

The Two Sides of the Securing of Records. In general there 
are two steps in the securing of records, the facts, or data 
as they are commonly called, are first secured and then these 
facts are recorded. The bookkeeper records facts with regard 
to sales that the selling force has secured, or certain purchases 
that the buying force has made. Certain articles have been 
sold at such and such prices, or certain articles have been 
bought and certain amounts paid for them, and so on. 

In many cases the recorder is not the same individual who 
gets the facts; the bookkeeping department does not sell or 
buy, it only records. 

In the same way a training department "sells" training. 
The instructors are salesmen, they "make the sales'* (put 
over the instruction), and, in certain cases, are the only people 
who know the facts, and so must report them. In other 
cases the facts can be secured by other people, even from the 
records of other departments, so that it is important that the 
system of "instructional bookkeeping" of the training depart- 



316 THE INSTRUCTOR 

ment should provide for the securing of all necessary data by 
the individuals who can best furnish it, according to the 
particular case under consideration. 

As just pointed o x ut there are certain data that only the 
instructor can furnish. As these are of more particular 
interest to the prospective instructor they are discussed 
somewhat more in detail than are those that are of only 
indirect interest to him. 

Data that must be Collected by the Instructor. Among the 
different kinds of data that have been discussed there are 
some that must be furnished by the instructor because no 
one else can furnish them. As is pointed out elsewhere, an 
instructor should be asked to do no work of this sort that 
any one else can do, but when he has been as fully protected 
as possible there still remains certain data which he alone 
can furnish. These data can, and should be compiled by 
others (the staff of the Director's office), but they must origi- 
nally come from the instructor. Among the most important 
of these are (for his group) : 

(1) Attendance reports. 

(2) Admission and Discharge reports. 

(3) Reports on use of material (Requisitions for In- 

structor's Material, etc.). 

(4) Reports of his estimate of the capacity of the men 

that go out of his group. 

Copies of all reports of this character should, of course, be 
retained by the instructor for his own use. 

In addition the instructor in connection with his own group 
should keep at least: 

(1) Progression records for each man. 

(2) Personal records for each man on which he bases his 

estimate of the capacity of men discharged from his 
group, and his reasons for discharging them at that 
time. 

The special form in which the above data would be reported 
or recorded would depend upon the special way in which that 
particular department provided for it. 



INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKKEEPING 317 

The Importance of Uniformity. Whatever may be the 
special form provided it is essential that the data from all 
instructors should be kept, or turned in, as the case may be, 
in the same form. If this is not done the work of compilation 
will be greatly increased, errors will be much more likely to 
occur, and it will be much more difficult to compare the 
records of different instructors for efficiency and justification 
data. 

Data that can be Secured Directly by the Director. A 
considerable portion of the necessary data can be secured 
directly by the Director's office. While this sort of informa- 
tion does not directly affect the instructor it is mentioned 
here as a matter of general information. Among the most 
important records that can be handled entirely in the Direc- 
tor's office are: 

(1) Admissions and discharges from the Department. 

(2) Assignments to instructing groups and transfers. 

(3) Records of requisitions drawn on other departments. 

In addition the Director's office should deal with all general 
compilation work such as: 

(1) Complete attendance records, and enrollment records. 

(2) Lengths of instructional periods. 

(3) Comparative production records. 

(4) Reports required in connection with the bonus (where 

the yard is working under these conditions). 

Data that can be Secured from Other Departments. Con- 
siderable information of value can be secured from other 
departments. Some of this information might be: 

(1) Production records during and after training. 

(2) Records of pay secured by men after leaving the train- 

ing department. 

(3) Previous training of men taken into the department. 

(4) Promotions of trained men (especially trade exten- 

sion) . 

(5) Cost figures. 

And a great many other kinds of information. Informa* 



318 THE INSTRUCTOR 

tion of this kind must, of course, be compiled in the office of 
the training department if it is to serve a useful purpose, 
since it must be usually selected from a mass of other data 
that has no bearing on the special use that is to be made of it 
in the training department. 

Conclusion. This section has drawn attention to the need 
for "instructional bookkeeping," why it is necessary, and by 
whom it should be done. The purpose of doing this has not 
been to describe in detail methods, or even to fully cover the 
ground, but to draw the attention of the prospective instructor 
to the fact that a system of records, in which he takes an 
important part, is necessary, so that he would appreciate the 
value of such work and the necessity of its being thoroughly 
well done in order to be of value. 

The Untrained Instructor and the Keeping of Records. 
Untrained instructors usually fail to appreciate the necessity 
of the keeping of records; they often feel that record keeping 
is merely a "spotting" device or implies a doubt on the part 
of the superiors as to the efficiency of their work. They often 
object to being asked to keep such records as they may be 
asked to keep on the ground that it is a waste of time, or, if the 
matter is pressed, do that part of the work in a perfunctory 
way, so that the results are often of but little value. 

The trained instructor knows that there is as much use for 
the keeping of records in his business as there is in any other 
business and will do his part of this work intelligently and 
willingly. What records he keeps will be well kept, and 
he will intelligently meet any special demands that come in 
from time to time because he knows, that, outside of his own 
particular part of the work the Department, as a whole, has 
many problems to solve whose correct solution depends 
largely on the securing and compiling of information that is 
accurate. 



CHAPTER XL 
TRAINING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES 

KINDS OF TRAINING THAT A TRAINING DEPARTMENT MAY 
HAVE TO FURNISH 

These may be: 

(1) Training for supervision. 

(2) Training for higher skill in a given trade. 

(3) Training men already skilled in another trade. 

(4) Training green men. 

Under any given set of conditions training for any or all of 
these four kinds of training might be included in the field of a 
training department, according to the special conditions that 
might exist at any given time in any given concern, and it is 
equally true that the relative demand for the different type 
might vary owing to similar causes. 

Training Supervisors. Any production force includes super- 
visors (leading hands, inspectors, foremen, etc.), and the number 
of these supervisors bears a certain relation to the total size of 
the working force. 

While there is always a certain turnover in the super- 
vising group (promotion, resignation, death, etc.), and a 
limited amount of training can always be offered for, this 
special purpose, it is, under normal conditions relatively 
small and forms a very minor part of the training work de- 
partment. Under emergency conditions, as where the amount 
of production called for is suddenly greatly increased there 
may be a correspondingly sudden demand for a corresponding 
increase in the supervisory force, and a corresponding demand 
for a considerable amount of training for this special purpose. 
The natural source from which additions to the supervisory 
force would come would be the working force of the plant. 

319 



320 THE INSTRUCTOR 

In general, the sort of men who can become supervisors 
are the best and most intelligent workmen in the force. Such 
men often lack certain training to fit them for such supervisory 
positions and it may become a part of the work of the training 
department to provide the opportunity for the securing of 
such training. 

General Character of Supervisory Training. Training for 
supervision, is in general, along technical rather than produc- 
tion lines, and is likely to consist of various unrelated lines of 
work rather than to constitute a definite " course of instruc- 
tion" as the term is commonly used. It might, for example, 
deal with certain forms of applied mathematics, or practical 
mechanics, or the particular procedure for routing and check- 
ing work in that particular plant, or with methods for keeping 
the work going or of handling men. Such courses would 
evidently be disconnected so far as what was taught in one 
course was likely to help a man in another course, and the 
order in which he took the different lines of work would be of 
little importance. 

Instruction of this Kind must be Specialized. Instruction 
for prospective supervisors will be of little value unless it is 
specialized, that is, unless it deals with the particular problems 
that come up in the particular plant in which the training 
department is located; with the particular methods followed 
in that plant, with the methods of handling the particular 
sort of men employed, etc. Only in rare cases, and with very 
advanced men will "general" courses be effective. 

Thus, in mathematics, general school or college courses 
in algebra or geometry are not likely to find much place in 
the ordinary run of this work, but work in solving equations 
of certain kinds, or certain kinds of applied geometry (de- 
scriptive geometry, as used in sheet metal work, for example) 
might be of value. All such work must be of direct value in 
the supervisor's work if it is to serve any real purpose. 

General Instructional Conditions for Supervisory Training. 
Work of this sort can generally be given on a basis of volun- 
tary attendance. Speaking broadly, the green man, the con- 
version man and the apprentice must be trained, to get the 



TRAINING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES 321 

job done, but the supervisory work need only be given to men 
who want it because they want supervisory work when the 
chance comes, and incidentally, it is only men of that sort 
of push, ambition arid foresight that are likely to "have the 
makings" of good supervisors. It is therefore often possible 
to give such work outside of working hours, in evening classes 
or sometimes on Saturday afternoons. 

Probably work of this sort affords more field for the use of 
printed instructional material, text books (where books of the 
right sort are available, which is not often the case) illustra- 
tive methods of presentation and use of "home study" than 
any other line of work given in a training department. The 
men should be a highly selected group, of a high degree of 
intelligence, ambitious, thoroughly familiar with the practi- 
cal aspects of their trade, and so much more likely to 
do effective work under the instructional conditions just 
described. 

Conditions of Admission in Supervisory Training. Work- 
ing under such conditions it is evident that desire to enter 
the class is not, alone, sufficient reason for admitting, the 
man must be qualified. Work of this character therefore 
calls for the setting up of conditions of admission, so that the 
instructional group will be, so far as possible, confined to those 
who can "profit by the instruction." This is, of course, 
equally true with regard to retention in the group. 

Conditions of Admission and Retention in Supervisory 
Training. It may be stated that, as a general principle, no 
man should be admitted to work of this character until he has 
set up a clear presumption of his ability to do the work effec- 
tively and that he promises to become an effective supervisor. 
While this general principle is easy to state it is exceedingly 
difficult to work out in practice. The following suggestions 
may be of value: 

There are three general sets of evidence that can be used 
in connection with admission requirements, they are: (1) 
Credentials, (2) Personal Interviews, (3) Examinations. 

By credentials is meant any evidence that may be submitted 
as to past experiences in the trade, in different sorts of work, 



322 THE INSTRUCTOR 

in schools of different kinds, the written opinion of others as 
to his ability, etc. 

By personal interview is meant any sort of a "talk" with the 
instructor or director that serves a purpose in getting a line 
upon the man's qualifications. 

An examination, of course, is intended to test a man's 
knowledge or skill by the method of "sampling" as described 
in Pamphlet 2. 

It has been generally considered that admission conditions 
for work of this character should not be based, to any great 
extent, if at all, on examinations, as that term is defined in 
these notes, but that considerable use should be made of the 
interview and credentials. 

Since the demand for supervisors will always be relatively 
small, attendance on such groups can be safely limited so 
that selections may often be made from a group of applicants 
that is larger than the size of the proposed instructional group. 
In such cases it is not uncommon to attach numerical values 
("points") to various elements that enter into credentials, 
age, length of experience, general education, etc., and do the 
same with different aspects of the personal interview. 

Anyone desiring to look further into methods of admission 
will find many suggestions in the methods used by employ- 
ment departments and by school departments in examining 
applicants for teaching positions. 

The chief point to bear in mind is that admission require- 
ments and selective admission should be based, largely, if not 
entirely on the personal interview and credentials, and that 
the examination, if used at all, should be made a decidedly 
minor factor. This is because personality, as it is commonly 
called, is such a large factor in the " stock in trade " of the good 
supervisor. He must, of course, know his job but that alone 
will not "get him by." 

The examination is therefore of relatively minor importance 
since it gives little information as to personality. It can, of 
course, be used to indicate a man's skill through a shop exami- 
nation, but, for applicants for training work for supervision, 
especially if they come from the force of the plant itself, such a 
test is seldom necessary. In the general run, credentials give 



TRAINING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES 323 

sufficient information as to experience, and the interview not 
only covers personality, but if well handled, can be made to 
serve as an "examination" as well. 

The examination therefore is of relatively minor importance. 

Instructional Organization. Of the different possible forms 
of instructional organization work of this sort is most likely 
to be organized on the class basis by the untrained instructor 
or director. It is probably true that the defects of this or- 
ganization do less harm in this class of work than in any other, 
just as it is true that poor instructional methods do less damage 
with work of this character than in any other. Ambitious, 
intelligent men can get what they want in spite of poor methods 
and poor instructional management, but they will get it better 
and quicker under good conditions nevertheless. 

Probably one of the best organizations for this class of 
work is what is known as the seminar, which is really a 
combination of individual and class work. Under such an 
organization the different men in the group, while each work- 
ing on specified problems come together with the instructor at 
frequent stated intervals for discussion and reports. At these 
same meetings the instructor may, as he may deem it desirable, 
present certain phases of the work, assign new work, etc. 

This special form of instructional organization is used 
to a considerable extent in the graduate schools of universities 
and would seem to offer distinct advantages for many forms 
of supervisory training. 

The Abuse of the Lecture in Supervisory Training. There 
is probably no class of work in which the lecture method is 
more misused than in work of this kind. It has a limited use, 
but the general tendency to depend upon "talking" in training 
men for supervisors is unfortunate. An instructor should be 
very sure that it will be effective in a given case before he 
uses it. The very fact that men in work of this kind are 
commonly especially intelligent makes it all the more im- 
portant that they should be made to work out their own 
problems and trained to think for themselves. In general, 
the lecture method will not do this, and, where it is used is 
likely to greatly decrease the possible efficiency of the work. 



324 THE INSTRUCTOR 

It is, of course, an easy method for both the men and the 
instructor, but easy methods are not, in training advanced men, 
usually the most effective ones. 

The Supervisory Instructor. Effective training for super- 
vision depends largely on the qualifications of the instructor. 
It is absolutely necessary that he should have the proper trade 
standing with the regular production force that they should 
admit that he knows more about the work than they do; he 
must have a thorough working familiarity with his subject, 
preferably through experience in the plant itself, and he 
should be old enough to assure respect. He should, of course, 
be a good instructor and, if possible, a trained instructor, 
but under many conditions it will be fortunate if a man other- 
wise qualified turns out to be a "natural" teacher. 

Men competent to give this sort of work are very difficult 
to obtain. If found, they will usually have to be drawn from 
some department of the plant and used as "special" instruc- 
tors, each man dealing with the particular field in which his 
expert knowledge lies. 

Characteristics of Learners: Supervisory Training. As 
already stated, work of this sort can only be effectively given 
to a selected group of men. Such men are ambitious, alert and 
enter the work with a strong vocational aim that is well 
defined. Their trade experience gives them a large foundation 
on which the instruction can be built up. They are usually 
relatively mature and are likely to be men who have already 
availed themselves of such trade extension work as may have 
been available. They are "farsighted." They are able to 
work out problems with but little suggestion and aid from the 
instructor. With such men there is, of course, no question of 
discipline, but, on the other hand, in such work very careful 
organization of the instructional material is necessary. Un- 
less such men know that they are getting what they want, and 
getting it quickly and effectively, they will not continue in the 
work. 

Training for Increased Skill: Trade Extension Training. 
The aim of trade extension work is to enable a man already 
somewhat advanced in his particular work to extend his trade 



TRAINING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES 3*5 

knowledge or his trade skill, or both, as the case may be. Its aim 
differs from that of supervisory training in that it is a form of 
true trade training in that it does not aim to train a man 
"out of his trade" but to make him a better man in his trade. 

General Character of Trade Extension Training. Trade 
extension training is, in general, characterized by the facts 
that groups of men will seldom be found who all want the 
same thing at the same time. In at least many cases each 
man will want some distinct thing, although it is true in some 
cases (as in training first class firemen for third class engineers) 
a group having a common need will be found. 

In the shipyard trades extension work is more likely to 
meet the needs of the shop and loft trades than of the yard 
trades. 

The Two General Types of Trade Extension Work. There 
are two general types of trade extension work. In shop work 
each man usually wants special training on some particular 
operation or on some special machine, and each man must 
therefore be taken care of according to his individual needs. 
In technical work this may or may not be the case. In the 
passing out of auxiliary knowledge there is the greatest chance 
that a group will be found that have a common need. 

Conditions of Admission to Trade Extension Work. It was 
pointed out in discussing admission requirements for super- 
visory training that such training would, in general, have 
to be given to a highly selected group, partly owing to the 
limited demand and largely on account of the special personal 
qualifications and trade experience that would admit of 
profitable instruction. 

In general these conditions do not apply in trade extension 
work. It is to the interest of all that every man should be as 
good a man in his trade as he can be hence the only ground 
for limiting numbers is that the number of men that can 
be effectively handled with the available facilities, has been 
reached. For another reason it is, however, essential that 
certain precautions should be taken in admitting men to trade 
extension classes. These precautions consist essentially in 
making sure, first, that the man knows what he wants and 



326 THE INSTRUCTOR 

second, that he knows enough about his trade to get it. A 
man will often want something so far ahead of what he already 
knows that it would be only a waste of his time and the time 
of the Department to undertake to give it to him. 

Unquestionably the best procedure in admitting to trade 
extension work is the personal interview with the instructor. 
In this way a good instructor who knows the trade and knows 
men can ascertain if the man means business, if he knows 
what he wants or that what he thinks he wants is not what he 
really wants (which is often the case), and if the man knows 
enough about his trade to "get" what he wants at that particu- 
lar stage of his trade progress. 

General Instructional Conditions for Trade Extension 
Training. Organization for individual instruction will be 
generally found to be best adapted to this particular line of 
training. Class organization will, as already stated some- 
times serve under special conditions, where certain definitely 
defined technical instruction is called for. Shop work almost 
invariably requires individual work and must be organized 
to provide that type of instructional conditions. Technical 
work will generally call for the same conditions as shop work. 
Auxiliary knowledge is most likely to lend itself to class 
organization. 

Under no circumstances should men of more than one 
trade be placed in the same group and the efficiency of the 
work will be increased in proportion as men of about the same 
degree of trade advancement are handled together. A group 
made up partly of apprentices, partly of journeymen and 
partly of "master workmen" will offer exceedingly difficult 
teaching conditions and should be avoided. 

The Trade Extension Instructor. Probably nothing has 
caused more failures in trade extension work than the attempt 
to employ unqualified instructors, especially men having a 
technical or a "school" knowledge but without sufficient 
practical experience. Above all a trade extension instructor 
mustocommand the "trade respect" of the men that he in- 
structs. They must admit that he is a better man on 
the job than they are. In addition, he should be a good 



TRAINING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES 327 

instructor, many competent men have failed as trade exten- 
sion instructors because they did not know how to put over 
what they knew. The trade extension instructor should 
always be at least one "notch" ahead of his men. For ap- 
prentices he should be at least a good journeyman, for jour- 
neymen he should be a "master workman" and so on. 

Characteristics of Learners : Trade Extension Training. 
Men who apply for trade extension work are of two kinds. 
The first kind know exactly what they want, know why they 
want it, and, if they cannot get what they want will not 
attend. The second kind do not know what they want 
they have an idea that they want "something that will help 
them along." 

The first type is easy to deal with; the second will often 
require much patent questioning before what they really 
need can be determined. The aim is usually immediate 
advantage a chance to "get a better job" if he can get addi- 
tional information or command of another process or operation. 

The trade extension man is not generally as "farsighted" 
as the man who seeks training for supervision, as a rule, 
"deferred values" do not attract him; he wants a "quick 
return" on his investment of time and energy. Under these 
circumstances the "Short Unit Course" as described later in 
these notes is often the best form in which to organize trade 
extension work. 

Training Men Already Skilled in Another Trade Conversion 
Training. It was pointed out in Pamphlet 1, that, under 
certain emergency conditions, there is a demand for a redis- 
tribution of skill, so that men skilled in one trade may need 
to secure certain training in order to enable them to "convert" 
their trade into one that will meet the new conditions. 

The Function of Conversion Training. The function of 
conversion training is therefore to give a competent workman 
in a trade that is not a shipyard trade such additional knowledge, 
skill and training as will enable him to work effectively in a 
shipyard. Such a man is in no sense a green man he brings 
to this training a large "capital" of trade experience, nor is he 
a trade extension man, since he requires training in a trade 



328 THE INSTRUCTOR 

that is not the trade that he has been following. "Conver- 
sion work" therefore offers certain difficult problems some 
of the more important of which are discussed in the following 
paragraphs. 

The Problem of Conversion Training. In order to do 
effective conversion work and to do it as rapidly as possible, 
it is evident that the more "assets" the man brings to the 
training department the better. If a man, out of his trade 
knowledge and skill already possesses, seventy -five per cent, 
of what he needs in order to do a given job, he can evidently 
be more rapidly trained than a man who has only thirty per 
cent, asset for the new trade. Trades that furnish the greatest 
asset for a given trade are often called allied trades. 

What is Meant by Allied Trades. An allied trade is there- 
fore one which contains a large proportion of the trade 
knowledge and skill required for a given shipyard trade. For 
example, a good house carpenter already knows a great deal 
about a number of jobs that are required in constructing a 
wooden ship; a structural steel riveter, especially if he has 
worked on tanks as well as buildings, is already, to a consider- 
able extent, familiar with the sort of jobs that are carried on 
in steel ship construction, and only needs additional training 
to enable him to rivet on ship work. 

The Determination of what Additional Training is Needed. 
As already stated a conversion man has a thorough command 
of his old trade, but all that he knows will not necessarily 
form a part of his equipment for the new trade. Out of all 
his trade knowledge there must be picked out what he can 
use in the new trade and, in addition, what he needs for the 
new trade must be determined. The laying out of an instruc- 
tional course for trade conversion requires therefore that 
answers should be secured to the following questions : 

(1) What can be used out of a man's old trade. 

(2) What more does the man need to know to fit him for 
the new trade. 

Probably the best way to secure this information is to 
compare the trade analysis of the old trade with the trade 



TRAINING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES 329 

analysis of the new trade, check up what appears in the 
analysis of the old trade that has a value in the new trade, 
and then check off what appears in the new trade analysis that 
does not appear in the analysis of the old trade. In this way 
an effective training course can be laid out, which only pro- 
vides for such actual conversion training as may be necessary. 

Speed in Conversion Training. The same requirements 
for speed in training apply in conversion work as in training 
of other types conversion training must be carried on as 
rapidly as possible so that the man can be got to work as soon 
as possible. The more the matter of determining conversion 
requirements is handled in a scientific way, and the less it is 
guessed at, the more effective will be the results obtained. 

General Character of Conversion Training. In general con- 
version training will call for at least any or all of the following : 

(1) Actual training on new jobs. 

(2) Knowledge of new working conditions and training 

in working under these conditions: 

(3) Additional auxiliary knowledge relating to the new 

trade. 

An illustration of the first case would be the case of a struc- 
tural steel riveter on Pullman cars who had never driven certain 
kinds of rivets that are driven on ship work, (say, for illustra- 
tion, countersunk or flush rivets). The second case would be 
illustrated by the same man if he had driven all kinds of ship 
rivets in the open air, but had never worked in different places 
where space was small in the hull, and uncomfortable attitudes 
must go with the work. The third case would be, for example, 
where many new terms must be acquired ship location 
terms, for example. 

Evidently all or any of these two kinds of training and 
giving of auxiliary material might occur in any given case 
and must be provided for. 

Instructional Conditions for Conversion Training. The 
trade experiences of men vary so much that, for cases one and 
two, as just discussed, individual instruction will be required. 
It is possible that the auxiliary knowledge can be, to some 



330 THE INSTRUCTOR 

extent, passed out to groups or as to classes. For example, if 
none of the men know ship terms a class organization might 
serve for this particular part of the work. 

The Conversion Instructor. The requirements for a con- 
version instructor vary from those for a trade extension, or 
trade instructor, in that he should, for the best working 
conditions, know both the "new" trade and something of the 
"old'* trade. Probably a man who knows the "new" trade 
but who is generally familiar with the "old" (allied) trade is 
likely to do well, although a "converted" man from the allied 
trade might be as good. 

Other requirements would essentially be those of the good 
trade extension instructor. 

Characteristics of Learners: Conversion Training. In his 
general characteristics the "conversion" man resembles the 
trade extension man and the general problems of instruc- 
tional management will be about the same as for that type of 
learner. 

Trade Training. As the term is used in these notes, trade 
training proper, as distinguished from trade extension or con- 
version training, means training a man with no knowledge 
of a given trade so that he can do work in that trade. So 
far as the term is used here it is immaterial whether he is 
trained completely for a given trade, (all around trade training) 
or for some part of a trade, (specialized trade training) or for 
certain jobs, or whether the jobs would be rated as skilled, 
semi-skilled or "unskilled," if he is not a trade extension man 
or a conversion man, any training that is given him is trade 
training as the term is used in these notes. 

The Function of Trade Training. The function of trade 
training is therefore to take a man who does not know or who 
cannot do anything in a given trade, and give him what he 
needs so that he does know or can do. Theoretically, so far 
as trade ability goes it starts with a man at zero, and carries 
him up the scale to whatever point may serve the purpose 
for which the training is given, (as in the case of appren- 
tices) or helpers, so far as their experience is a training 
experience. 



TRAINING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES 331 

The Problem of Trade Training. Of the three types of 
training discussed, trade training offers, in many ways, the 
simplest problems. It really offers but two : 

(1) Find out what the man must have to make good in the 

trade or on the job. 

(2) Give it to him. 

Finding correct answers to these questions in the case of 
any given trade require, of course, the effective carrying out of 
certain steps such as: 

(1) Analyzing the trade. 

(2) Setting up an effective instructional order. 

(3) Determining suitable methods of instruction. 

(4) Setting up proper conditions as to instructing condi- 

tions, management, etc., as discussed in the different 
parts of these notes. 

Trade Training, Trade Extension Training, and Conversion 
Training in a Training Department. The relative importance 
of these three types of training under any given set of conditions 
is an important consideration especially as to relative demand 
and value in raising and maintaining the general level of ef- 
ficiency. The following discussion is suggestive only. 

Trade Extension Training and Size of Operating Force. 
Trade extension training does not, strictly speaking, increase 
the working force of a plant. It does increase the skill of the 
force already at work. As an agency for increasing skill of 
the same kind it is important, as an agency to bring in more 
skill from "outside" or from allied trades it has no value. So 
far as trade extension work goes it will therefore only increase 
the efficiency of men already employed in certain lines in those 
lines. It can only produce more skill, intelligence, and pro- 
motional capacity in the working force already employed. 
It can increase quality of skill but not quantity of workers. 

Conversion Training and Size of Operating Force. Conver- 
sion training serves to bring into the operating force more 
men who can do by "capitalizing" the skill and mechanical 
experience already existing in other trades. 



332 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Much of this skill, knowledge, and experience they can 
apply to the trade that they go into. Conversion training 
therefore adds both men and skill to the operating force. 

In the case of conversion it is also true that in case of a 
reduction of force they can readily go back to their old trade. 

Trade Training and Size of Working Force. Trade training 
proper, also serves to increase both man power and skill in the 
shipyard trades, differing from a conversion training only in 
that the men that are trained start practically at zero. 

Comparative Values of the Three Kinds of Training. We 
have: 

(1) To increase skill in a given working force. 

(a) Trade Extension Work. 

(2) To add man power and skill to the working force. 

(a) Conversion Work (men from allied trades). 

(b) Trade training proper (green men). 

Evidently if a higher degree of skill with given working force 
is all that is required, trade extension work is the agency to 
turn to, but if both man power and skill are insufficient trade 
extension work will not help the situation and conversion work 
and trade training must be used. 

The Relative Value of Conversion Training and Trade 
Training. As pointed out the relative values of these two 
forms of training, the degree to which each form can best be 
used, and the particular sorts of trades or jobs for which the 
two types are best fitted consitute a problem in training 
efficiency that seriously affects the character of the work 
that a training department may be called upon to do. The 
following suggestions bear upon this question. 

The Trade Conversion Man a " Quick Asset " for Skilled 
Trades. The trade conversion man may be said to already 
possess a considerable proportion of the new trade. He is 
already 50%, 75%, or 80% trained. Moreover he has behind 
him the trade experience in his old trade which enables him to 
"catch on" rapidly, he can therefore be trained quickly. If 
he comes from a closely allied trade, but little conversion 
training will enable him to work on similar jobs in the "new" 
trade. He is therefore a "quick asset." 



TRAINING PRINCIPLES AND POLICIES 333 

As contrasted with the conversion man the "green" man 
has neither trade experience in an allied trade or trade knowl- 
edge or skill. To train him for a skilled trade would take 
much more time than would be required for a conversion man. 
The green man can therefore, in general, be more economically 
trained for relatively simple or specialized work. 

The Green Man a " Quick Asset " for Semi-Skilled Work. 
The green man can therefore be most effectively trained for 
semi-skilled work. He can be trained for this sort of work 
more rapidly than for the more highly skilled work, and more- 
over, can do this sort of work, after training, effectively and 
rapidly. If a man from a skilled trade is trained for semi- 
skilled jobs it practically means throwing away an extremely 
valuable asset, and is neither efficiency or economy. In 
general, therefore, conversion work would train for the more 
skilled work and trade training with green men would deal 
with the less skilled occupations. This would, in general, be 
the most efficient training condition, provided that a sufficient 
number of both kinds of men could be secured. 

The Situation where Labor Supply is Limited. Where the 
supply of men available is limited, it may be necessary, if 
an insufficient number of conversion men are available, to 
train green men for the simpler work of the more skilled trades, 
in order not to sacrifice the "quick asset" value of the con- 
version men that can be trained. That is, the conversion 
man must be "capitalized for all that he is worth" and the 
green man trained to fill in behind him. 

The Necessity of Adjustment. Of course, in all cases, a 
training department must adjust itself to the situation as it 
exists. Presumably the Employment Department will deal 
with the securing of men, but the Training Department will 
undoubtedly be called upon to advise as to how it can train 
to the best advantage, hence the preceding discussion is in- 
cluded as one of the problems of a training department. 



CHAPTER XLI 

APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING AND THE TRAINING 
DEPARTMENT 

Preliminary. One of the problems with which a Training 
Department may have to concern itself is the training of 
apprentices. In many plants such apprenticeship training 
schemes are already in operation, and are likely to be considered 
as forming a part of the work of a training department that 
may be established or developed to meet the present emergency 
conditions. 

The General Aim of Apprenticeship Training. Whatever 
the trade, apprenticeship training has the general aim of 
"passing on the trade," that is, it is a method for providing 
new workers to carry on the trade from generation to genera- 
tion. As commonly used the term only applies to what are 
commonly called the "skilled" trades. 

An apprentice is therefore a young man who is under training 
for a skilled trade which he expects to follow after he is trained. 

Ordinary Conditions of Apprenticeship Training. Under 
ordinary conditions an apprentice is placed in production 
work in the trade for which he is to be trained. He may or 
may not be placed under any instructional conditions. As a 
rule he is expected to get what instruction he does get from 
workmen and foremen whose job is to get out production. 
Sometimes this shop experience is supplemented by a few hours 
a week in a "school room" where certain general or special 
technical work is given him. 

The " Paying " Apprentice. Under most conditions an 
apprentice, to a greater or less extent, "pays for his keep" 
through the value of his labor. Under these conditions the 
tendency is always to hold him on work that he can do until 
he has turned out enough product to more or less offset 

334 



APPRENTICESHIP TRAINING DEPARTMENT 335 

the cost of his training. This, of course, tends to increase 
the training time if it is prolonged beyond the point where he 
has learned to do the job well and quickly. 

Conditions Affecting the Length of Apprenticeship Training. 
The tendency to unduly prolong a given kind of production 
training and the fact that, in at least many cases, instructors 
are untrained, or there are no instructors, tends to increase 
the term of apprenticeship beyond the point required for effect- 
ive training under good conditions. 

Proper Conditions for Apprenticeship Training. Where ap- 
prentices are to be trained much more effective work can 
be done if they are trained in a training department whose 
business is training. An effective instructional order, trained 
instructors, good instructional conditions, training on pro- 
duction, but with production as a by-product of training, will 
result in training apprentices not only better but much more 
rapidly than does the usual present method. 

The general principles laid down for training in general will 
therefore apply to apprenticeship training. 

Some Special Problems of Apprenticeship Training. As 
already stated the training of apprentices offers certain special 
problems that do not come up in ordinary training work. 
These special problems are mostly due to the fact that the 
time required for training apprentices is much longer than 
that required for ordinary training and hence calls for the 
laying out of a much more complicated course of instruction. 
It is also quite generally true that apprenticeship training 
is started at an earlier age than shop training, hence 
the characteristics of the apprentice are somewhat different 
from those of the average man who comes under instruction 
in a training department. 



CHAPTER XLII 

THE "COLD STORAGE" VS. THE APPLICATION 
THEORY OF INSTRUCTIONAL ORDER 

Preliminary. This section contains a brief discussion of 
two possible principles on which an instructional order may 
be developed. These two principles are commonly designated 
as the principle of training for deferred values, or the "cold 
storage'* principle, and the principle of training for immediate 
values, or the "application" principle. 

Training for Deferred Values: "Cold Storage." Accord- 
ing to this theory all auxiliary knowledge, and all training in 
general, should be mastered by the learner before he has occa- 
sion to apply it in actual work. In instruction work organized 
on this basis a learner is, for example, thoroughly drilled on 
decimal fractions before he needs to use the micrometer in the 
machine shop; or he is given board measure before he has 
occasion to use it in the carpenter shop; or he is informed 
how to figure resistances of various sizes of wire before he 
meets that kind of problem in his electrical practice; or he is 
"taught" how to figure an indicator card before he is allowed 
to "take" one in steam practice. 

According to this theory the learner is first given the re- 
quired knowledge and later, when the necessity arises, he is 
expected to be able to apply it, that is, just as eggs can be 
put in cold storage, kept until wanted and then used, so it is 
expected that a learner can master the method of doing a 
technical job, say a calculation, or a piece of auxiliary knowl- 
edge, or a safety first item, and can carry it in his head until 
it is needed. The principle on which work of this sort is based 
assumes that the application value of the work is deferred 
until some time after it is learned or acquired, hence it is 
called the principle of deferred values, or often the "cold 

336 



44 COLD STORAGE M VS. APPLICATION THEORY 337 

storage" principle, because the learner carries it in a sort of 
mental "cold storage" until it is needed. 

Training for Immediate Values : " Application." Accord- 
ing to the other principle all information, etc., should be 
given at the time that it is needed on the job, so that, according 
to this principle, no "cold storage" period should come in 
between acquisition and application. This principle is known 
as the principle of instructing for immediate values, or the 
"Application Principle." 

According to this principle a learner would not be given any 
one piece of auxiliary information or process until he needed 
it in his practical work. He would then learn the process by 
being taught on the job how to solve that particular problem. 
By this method a man would not be taught, for example, 
indexing, or riveting, or laying off a certain pattern, until he 
was instructed in actually doing that job, or the job of which 
that operation was a part. He would then be taught how to 
make the necessary calculations or constructions, or operations 
at that moment, on the job, by being required to do that 
work before he could go ahead with the job. 

How the Cold Storage Principle is Carried out in Practice. 
In training work this principle is often followed in such cases 
as giving safety first lectures to green men, in attempting 
to give organized "courses" in "shop mathematics" or "blue- 
print reading" to learners before they have come in contact 
with the blueprint or the need for the calculations in the actual 
work in the shop. In general such work is characterized by: 

(1) Class instruction rather than instruction in small 

groups or by individuals. 

(2) Excessive repetition, drill, and memorizing. 

(3) Theory first, application later. 

(4) Limited application. 

(5) Problems more or less artificial and imaginary. 

(6) Little or no application of knowledge to real situations 

while learning. 

(7) Recitations, lectures, examinations. 

In apprentice training this method is often worked out by 
what is called the part time scheme, in which an attempt 



3S8 THE INSTRUCTOR 

is made to make the cold storage period relatively small, 
which, in general, is organized as follows: 

(a) Organization of Classes: Classes are usually organ- 
ized in such a way that a period of shop work alternates 
with a period of instruction in non-shop work. The two 
most common arrangements are: (1) the half day period, 
and (2) the week and week about period. 

In the half day scheme learners are paired by classes or 
divisions. One division goes into the shop for the first half 
of the day, while the other division goes into the class room. 
At noon the two divisions exchange places. 

In the week about scheme, one division works in the shop 
a week while the other division is attending classes in related 
studies. At the end of the week the two divisions exchange. 
In certain cases the "rotation period " is even longer. Where 
this practice is followed, the shop day is usually seven to eight 
hours long, or the usual working day, while the school days 
is about six hours. In this sort of training the work is often 
spoken of as divided into two parts, shop work, in the produc- 
tion department, or shop and "non-shop work" in the class 
room. 

(b) Location of Class Rooms: Class rooms are usually 
located apart from the shops in another part of the building 
or even entirely outside of the plant. 

(c) Teachers: Teachers of non-shop work in this type 
of organization are generally not experienced mechanics. 
Usually they have had more or less incidental contact with 
industry. Frequently they have had teaching experience in 
regular high schools before entering the service of the training 
department. Sometimes they are recent graduates of the 
technical college having slight contact with industry and no 
teaching experience. Occasionally women are employed in 
this capacity. 

Instructors in "non-shop work" are rarely found to have 
had a training or experience in teaching that essentially differs 
in method or point of view from the teaching commonly 
practiced by the regular high school. 

Instructors in Shop Work. Under the usual type of this 
organization no regular instructors on actual production 



" COLD STORAGE " VS. APPLICATION THEORY 339 

processes are employed. In so far as instruction is given in 
this part of the work it is given by workmen or foremen who 
are not, under ordinary conditions, trained instructors, though 
they are, of course, experienced mechanics. 

Sometimes regular high school text books are used. 

(e) Selection of subject matter: In general two methods 
are followed : 

1. The subject method. Where this method is used 
courses are given in Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, etc., 
and practically all the subject matter usually given in texts 
on those subjects is taught. 

2. The topic method. In this method the usual text 
books are used, but the subject matter of the course is selected 
by omitting certain topics given in the book that have little 
or no direct bearing upon the practical work, and giving more 
time to those topics that have. In Algebra, for example, the 
Binominal Theorem is omitted and additional attention is 
given to formulas and simple equations. It should be noted 
that in schools of this type the selection of subject matter is 
usually from the point of view of the subject to be taught 
rather than from the point of view of the trade. 

Practice of the Application Theory. As this method is 
worked out in practice, in training work the auxiliary material 
is "tied up" to the lesson and needs no further description. 
Some features of this method would be: 

(1) Instruction by individuals or in small groups rather 

than by classes. 

(2) Experience subsituted for organized knowledge. 

(3) Comparatively little drill or memorizing. 
. (4) Comparatively little recitation work. 

(5) Real problems. 

(6) Real needs to be met. 

(7) Application first, theory later. 

(c) Instructors: All auxiliary information is usually 
given by a shop instructor on the job. Sometimes the class 
room instruction given in more advanced work is given by a 
shop man and sometimes by a teacher who is not a trained 
mechanic. Occasionally the shop instructors are assisted in the 



340 THE INSTRUCTOR 

non-shop work by a "floating instructor." There is a tend- 
ency to create a new type of instructor for the teaching of 
this sort of work known as the instructor on related work. 

(d) Location of class rooms: Class rooms and drafting 
rooms are sometimes built adjacent to the shops. Frequently 
seats and desks are put into one end of the shops. 

(e) Text books: None used except occasionally for refer- 
ence during first period. Handbooks and correspondence 
school books are used to some extent for this purpose at all 
points in the course. 

The Cold Storage and the Application Methods in Training 
the Working Force. Considerable space has been given to a 
description of these two methods because both have been to a 
considerable extent developed in recent years, and so are 
likely to be suggested for training. The method described 
in this book as that under which a training department 
should be operated is the application method. The character 
of the work in which instruction must be given, the need for 
rapid training, the type of men to be trained, all demand the 
conditions set up by the application method. Even in the train- 
ing of apprentices (where such work is a part of the responsi- 
bility of the training department), more effective results will be 
obtained by the use of training schemes based on application 
than on cold storage methods. 

Summary and Conclusions. General instructional organiza- 
tion based upon the "cold storage" principle will probably 
find but little place in the work of a training department under 
emergency conditions. As a matter of fact neither is it to be 
recommended for the training for future values, as in the case 
of apprentice training, although at this time it is the method 
that has been quite commonly adopted for this particular 
form of training, and is likely to be that already in use in any 
apprenticeship schemes that a training department may take 
over or initiate. 

While it possesses certain apparent advantages, these are 
more apparent than real, it is more costly than appears at 
first sight, and is relatively less efficient than is work developed 
on the "application principle." 



"COLD STORAGE" VS. APPLICATION THEORY 341 

In certain types of trade extension work it can probably 
be used to a fair degree of effectiveness with highly selected 
groups of well advanced men, and local conditions often make 
it the only principle that can be used under these circumstances, 
although even here work developed on the application principle 
would be undoubtedly more efficient. 



CHAPTER XLIII 

THE RELATIVE ORDER IN WHICH A LEARNER SHOULD 
ACQUIRE THEORY AND PRACTICE 

Preliminary. This section discusses certain principles 
relating to the relative order in which theory and practice 
should be presented to the learner. The discussion is general 
in its character. The principles set forth would apply in 
training for some trades more than for others and might apply 
more particularly here in connection with relatively long 
training courses for the more highly skilled trades having a 
considerable technical content, or in apprenticeship training. 
This discussion bears especially on what is sometimes termed 
"training in fundamentals.'* Such "fundamental training" 
is often proposed as a first step in a training scheme for trade 
training. Since work of this kind may be proposed as a 
part of the work of some training departments the matter 
of its value is discussed in this section. 

The Relative Place of Theory and Practice. Any line of 
practical instruction requires a training in both the how and 
why; in theory and in practice. The question as to the rela- 
tive order in which theory and practice should be taught has 
often been raised, and, since it is a very important point in 
determining both program and organization, since it involves 
a general principle of teaching, it is discussed here somewhat 
fully. 

Instructors recognize in general two methods of procedure: 
(1) To pass from general principles or fundamentals to 
definite practice; (2) To pass from definite practice to abstract 
principles. Thus in training a machinist by the first method 
a learner could be taught the theoretical principles on which 
practice is based. He could be taught the theory of cutting 
speed; the theoretical principles of getting full duty out of a 
machine; the mechanical principles used in the machine; he 

342 



ACQUIREMENT OF THEORY AND PRACTICE 343 

could be trained in the mathematics which he would later 
apply in the shop, on problems which were purely abstract in 
their character, as for example: he could be taught how to 
evaluate formulae, how to demonstrate the various geometrical 
relations involved in the case of the inscribed polygon and the 
circle without any knowledge on his part that these particular 
mathematical principles would be involved in any practical 
shop work. This method of instruction is commonly used in 
the regular schools. Algebra, geometry, mechanical drawing, 
and in many cases science are taught from the standpoint of 
general principles without any regard to specific application. 

An illustration of instruction under the second method 
would be to have the learner first come in contact with applica- 
tion of theoretical principles through real work in the shop. 
Here he would learn, as a matter of practice, that certain 
cutting speeds were used on certain metals and he would 
learn to use the various devices provided for the purpose to 
get such cutting speed, in fact he might be taught to cut 
entirely "by the chip." He could learn the control of the 
longitudinal, transverse, and vertical feeds without any knowl- 
edge of the theoretical or mechanical principles involved. 
He could learn as a matter of fact that he was expected to 
take off as heavy a chip as the tool would stand in order to 
get out production and to know that his machine must be up 
on production if it is to pay for itself. 

The Second Method the More Efficient. The second 
method is by far the more efficient order of procedure, since 
it leads to the development of much greater interest on the 
part of the learners, and to a much more rapid and complete 
group of principles when they are presented. The method of 
proceeding from concrete and specific knowledge to general 
and theoretical knowledge has always been recognized as the 
most efficient order of procedure in securing effective instruc- 
tion. 

Why the Second Procedure is Recommended. The effi- 
ciency of the method of passing from actual knowledge of how 
a thing is done to the reason why it is done, rather than by the 
reverse process, is based upon a well-known characteristic of 



844 THE INSTRUCTOR 

the human mind, which is, that the majority of people find it 
very difficult to think in terms of things about which they have 
had no actual experience; and hence then* interest is not 
aroused. It is extremely difficult for a person who has no 
knowledge of baseball to understand a description of the 
game. It has been found difficult or almost impossible in 
Porto Rico to give the children in the public schools any idea 
of what snow is because they have never seen snow. If a 
person has never seen a mountain or a hill it is extremely 
difficult for him to get any intelligent understanding of hills 
and mountains. 

In the same way if a learner has had no experience on the 
job, if he has not actually learned how things are done so that 
the doing of them right has become largely a matter of course 
with him, it is extremely difficult to get him to understand the 
general principles involved and he will not be interested in 
mastering them. But if he comes to the mathematical 
principles involved in the work of his trade after having first 
learned how to practically do the jobs in a great variety of 
ways, he then "sees the bearing" of them and is interested in 
learning them and applying them. A general principle may 
be regarded as a pigeonhole in a desk in which we can place a 
number of things that we know should have the same label, 
but if we have not the things a pigeonhole is not of very 
much use, and we are not greatly interested in having it 
around. The fact that we can only apply principles when we 
have a lot of concrete examples which we can bring together 
under that principle is of course well known to everybody, 
because we are all aware how difficult it is for two people to 
understand each other when they are talking about a matter 
of which both of them have not had some experience. A 
person brought up in the middle west will find it extremely 
difficult to talk interestingly about navigation and the problem 
of the management of a vessel with a captain of an ocean 
steamer, whereas the captain of the ocean steamer would 
find it equally difficult to talk intelligently and interestingly 
with the westerner about the problems of cattle raising on a 
western ranch. 

It has been already stated that auxiliary information 



ACQUIREMENT OF THEORY AND PRACTICE 345 

should be given to the learner on the job, so that, in practice 
in a training department, it is absolutely necessary that the 
man should first have some real work from which he can get 
his concrete experience, or the instructional basis, before any 
attempt can be made to utilize it for instruction in the theoreti- 
cal principles involved. It is also true that such a founda- 
tion must be pretty well laid before any great attempt is made 
to give theoretical work in any definite and organized way. 

The Two Methods and Interest Factors. When work is 
developed on the principle of passing from practice to theory, 
interest factors can be used to much greater advantage than 
when the reverse order is followed. This is particularly true 
of self-confidence, curiosity, and the appeal to the vocational 
aim. 

The development of self-confidence, a very important 
interest factor, especially in the earlier periods of the learner's 
progression, can only be obtained if, from the beginning he 
can do his work at least fairly well, and the better he does it 
the more strongly will his interest be aroused and sustained. 
Hence his work at first, should be that which he can most 
easily grasp and carry out effectively. He should be able to 
do a good job easily from the start, and this condition can be 
brought about much better if the instruction first deals with 
methods of doing jobs and he is allowed to concentrate his 
attention entirely on doing, on the "how, " rather than on the 
"why," at this stage of his progression through the training 
course. 

Thus it is easier, and hence more interesting, for the learner 
to learn how to set a tool or chuck a job than to figure the 
offset on turning a taper or to work out abstract formulae on 
the functions of angles. He can more easily learn what 
cutting speed is and learn to set his machine for the suitable 
cutting speeds for various metals than learn how to figure the 
speeds or why such speeds are called for; and his interest in 
learning how to figure speeds or solve trigonometrical formulae 
will only be aroused after he has discovered that there are such 
things and that somebody must know how to use them in 
order to get out the practical working rules that he uses on his 
jobs. 



346 THE INSTRUCTOR 

Curiosity, so far as it has value as an interest factor, is 
aroused mainly by the practical side of a trade. 

Take the case of a man just admitted to a training depart- 
ment for training as a machinist. He is thinking of a machin- 
ist as a person who works metal with machines. He knows 
little or nothing about the technical side of the trade. Hence 
his main interest lies on the productive or "job" side of the 
work. The relation of abstract principles can only become 
clear ^o him as a result of his seeing that such principles 
underline his practice. If his earlier instruction deals with the 
doing of work which he knows is the sort of work done by 
machinists he can understand that he is progressing in the 
line of his chosen trade, and his interest is strongly maintained, 
whereas if he first gets instruction in principles, by virtue 
of the fact that he has had no shop experience of how those 
principles apply, there is required an abstract power of visuali- 
zation and "far sightedness" which but few people possess. 

Conclusion and Summary. The procedure of working from 
general abstract principles to special applications in the de- 
velopment of a training course should not be followed in any 
work in a training department, since it is the less efficient 
order of progression for practically all individuals who will 
come into such a department. It establishes inefficient in- 
structional conditions, tends to unnecessarily increase the 
instructional turnover, and unquestionably decreases speed in 
training. These conditions should be, of course, avoided in 
any training work, but must be reduced to a minimum in 
emergency training. 



CHAPTER XLIV 

The Short Unit Course in Trade Extension Work. Mention 
has been made in these notes of the so-called "Short Unit 
Course" in connection with trade extension work, and the 
following paragraph gives a brief description of this form of 
organization of instructional material. 

" Long Courses, " Unit Courses and Short Unit Courses. 
Trade extension courses can be organized in three ways. 
According to the first type, courses covering a long period are 
laid out (two years or three years), and these courses offer 
simultaneously several trade subjects, as shop mathematics, 
mechanical drawing and perhaps shop work. Such courses 
may be called "Long Courses.'* 

The second type of organization offers only one line of 
instruction, say shop work, or shop mathematics, but offers 
that subject for a relatively long time, say through one winter's 
work. Such courses may be called Short courses, since they 
offer one unit or subject at a time. 

The Short Unit Course differs from either of the types 
just described in consisting of a part of a unit, usually a block 
from a multiblock trade or even a certain kind of a job, or 
group of jobs. The length of time required is determined 
solely by the time required to instruct in the short unit in 
question. It may run as low as six or eight hours. 

It has been found in many cases that, with trade extension 
men, the short unit course best meets their needs and it can 
undoubtedly be used to advantage in this type of work in 
many cases. 



347 



PART IX 

THE USE OF THIS MATERIAL IN INSTRUCTOR 
TRAINING COURSES 



849 



CHAPTER XLV 

THE USE OF THIS MATERIAL IN INSTRUCTOR TRAIN- 
ING COURSES 

The original purpose for which much of this material was 
prepared was for use in training courses for competent mechan- 
ics who wished to secure instructor training. The following 
suggestions are based upon past experience in using it for 
that purpose. 

General Organization. This work can be carried on under 
either of four conditions. 

(1) As intensive training, where the men put their entire 

time onto the work, being, of course, entirely with- 
drawn from regular work (production or instruction 
as the case may be) during that time. 

(2) As intensive training on a part time basis, where the 

men put a part of their time onto the training work 
and a part of their time onto their regular work, 
(production or instruction). 

(3) As evening, or "leisure time" courses, where the men 

put in full time on their regular work and attend the 
training course in their leisure time (evenings, Saturday 
afternoons, etc.). 

(4) A modification of (3) is where the work is given in 

"leisure time" courses, but in short units. 

Discussion of these Methods. Where it can be done, 
plan(l) unquestionably is to be recommended. The process of 
"converting" production men into instructors is much easier if 
their attention can be concentrated on instruction problems 
and they are withdrawn from production experiences during the 
training process. This fact, taken in connection with the fact 
that, during their training, they can devote their entire time, 
both in class and out, to the work, results in much greater 

351 



35$ THE INSTRUCTOR 

efficiency. The same number of hours under this plan will 
give from a third to a half more efficiency compared to the 
efficiency obtained under plans 3 and 4. 

Whenever possible the straight, full time intensive plan is 
to be recommended. 

Plan (2). This plan particularly appeals to concerns that 
are unable or unwilling to release men for full time intensive 
training. It will be noted that it contains two possibilities. 

(a) The men alternate between production work and train- 

ing work. 

(b) The men alternate between instruction work and train- 

ing work. 

The first modification has all the disadvantages of plans 3 
and 4. All the arguments presented in Part I against putting 
a man on production and instruction at the same time apply 
here. 

This plan is not to be recommended, under any circum- 
stances. 

The second modification has certain advantages and makes 
possible the relatively intensive training of men who are al- 
ready employed in instruction work. The fact that they are 
instructing while they are under training gives an opportunity 
for practice teaching under observation and criticism that 
can be carried on parallel to the instructor training work. 
It is questionable however if this plan gives a greater training 
efficiency than plan 1. 

Plan 3, evening classes, is the plan likely to be adopted 
under ordinary conditions. It is, of course, less efficient than 
either plan 1 or plan 2b. Under ordinary evening class condi- 
tions, given for eighty or one hundred hours during the winter, 
the time is too short for very effective training, the working 
power of the men is relatively low, since they come to the work 
after a day's work on their regular jobs, and time for out of 
class work is extremely limited. 

Plan 4 partially meets these conditions by permitting more 
intensive training on any unit that may be selected, and, to 
that extent, is more effective. 



USE OF MATERIAL IN INSTRUCTOR TRAINING COURSES 353 

Choice between plans 3 and 4 would have to be determined 
by local conditions. 

For men with no instructing experience, probably plan 3, 
in spite of the fact that only a relatively superficial training 
can be given, is the more efficient. Where men are engaged 
in instructing during the day (foremen, instructing foremen, 
instructors) the unit plan may better meet their needs. 

Conditions of Admission. It is assumed that this material 
will be used only in training courses for men who are thoroughly 
competent hi their respective occupations. As is pointed out 
in the text, only such competent men can "hold down their 
jobs ' ' as practical instructors. Some form of admission require- 
ment should therefore be enforced. In general, the means of 
determining the qualifications of an instructor as given in the 
text, will serve equally well here. 

Time. Under plan 1 fairly satisfactory results have been 
obtained in thirty-six days, eight hours a day, four hours on 
Saturday, with enough "home work" to keep the men busy 
evenings. This time includes five days of practice teaching, 
a total of two hundred and sixty-four hours. 

Under plan 2b the "slip" due to alternation is about offset 
by the parallel instruction experience, and the time would 
probably be about the same. 

In working under plans three and four if the usual school 
program is followed the course can be run for from twenty to 
twenty-five weeks. Experience has shown that with men 
working during the day it is impossible to secure constant 
attendance and avoid over fatigue if the work is carried on for 
more than two nights a week, two hours a night. This gives 
a possible time of from eighty to one hundred hours. 

If the unit plan is adopted about two units can be inten- 
sively handled in this time. 

Where specialized instructors are to be trained the omission 
of certain parts of the work will of course reduce the training 
time if that is absolutely necessary. If possible, it is better 
to put more time onto the remaining blocks of the course. 

Instructing Conditions Location. Evidently plans 1 and 
8 can be best carried on in a plant where the trades of the 

23 



854 THE INSTRUCTOR 

different men are carried on. This condition exists where 
all the men come from one concern, or from a group of con- 
cerns all turning out the same product. This is by far the 
most efficient arrangement. 

Where the training course cannot be located in the plant 
itself, for plans 1 and 2 it should be located as near a suit- 
able plant as possible, where such relations can be established 
as will make practice teaching possible. 

Plans 3 and 4 offer very different conditions. In this 
case the men usually come to their work from then- homes 
and the location of the training course should enable them 
to get back and forth easily. Under these conditions space in 
some public building, a school house, for example, is usually 
available especially during the period that the schools are 
open for evening work. 

Instructing Conditions Equipment. The equipment re- 
quired (outside of that used for practice teaching) is exceedingly 
simple. The best equipment consists of tables large enough 
to accommodate one group to a table, chairs, a blackboard, and 
ordinary writing materials. Since many men who attend 
these courses use tobacco, spittoons are a desirable part of the 
equipment where it is considered that chewing is not objection- 
able. 

Tablet arm chairs, when tables are not available are the 
next best seating equipment. 

The use of regular school desks and chairs should be avoided. 
The less "school" atmosphere there is around the work the 
better. 

Instructing Conditions. Size and Make-up of Group. 
Not over eight or ten men should be handled by one instructor. 
That instructor should handle these men through the entire 
course. Experience has shown that shifting instructors during 
the course, or using more that one instructor with a group re- 
duces the efficiency of the work. The work must be so largely 
individual, so much assistance and supervision is required 
that effective work cannot be done with a larger group than 
that given above. As the group size is increased above that 
number the efficiency of the work goes down very rapidly. 



USE OF MATERIAL IN INSTRUCTOR TRAINING COURSES 355 

Order of Presentation. The material on Analysis and Deter- 
mination of trade content Part II. How to put it over 
(Parts IV, V, VI). The securing of an effective instructional 
order (Part III) and Instructional Management (Part VII) 
have been treated as four independent blocks. The remaining 
material Parts I and VIII has been regarded as constituting 
several blocks of minor importance, whose chief value from 
the training standpoint was appreciative rather than technical, 
and which would be treated largely as auxiliary information, 
to be brought in as occasion offered. 

Experience has shown that, for the four main blocks as 
given, the order given above is the most effective. An ex- 
ception to this statement is that, under full time intensive 
training it has sometimes been found advisable to parallel 
blocks one and two by working on one block in the morning 
and one in the afternoon. This modified arrangement has 
been found advantageous where the group under training was 
kept at work for eight or ten hours a day. 

Under these conditions, where men used to active work were 
kept quiet for so long a period, by the parallel arrangement 
men were brought sooner to the point in block two where 
practice teaching afforded physical relief. Under ordinary 
conditions, such as would exist in an evening or part time 
course the parallel modification offers no special advantages. 

The general appreciation blocks referred to will require 
little direct time in the course. That portion of the material 
can be drawn on for discussion as opportunity offers or made 
a basis for out-of -class study, which may be followed by dis- 
cussions in the class. 

Training Specialized Instructors. Where the men under 
training are to instruct in one job, or in a group of disconnected 
jobs (as in many cases of semi-skilled work) the whole ques- 
tion of effective instructional order drops out and that block 
can be wholly omitted. The chapters on blocking out the 
trade can also be omitted. 

Method of Presentation. -The material was not prepared 
as a text to be studied or as a basis for lecture presentation 
pr as "lecture notes" but as a basis for discussion and for 



356 THE INSTRUCTOR 

the working out of assigned problems and practice teaching. 
The most effective method has been to give a student prob- 
lems, exercises, or questions on the subject covered by 
one chapter and to let him work them out with such in- 
dividual assistance from the instructor as he might need, 
the material itself relieving the instructor of the necessity 
of doing much preparation or presentation. The effective 
work of the instructor has come mainly in steps three and 
four of the " lesson " that he is putting over. (Roughly speaking 
each chapter calls for a lesson to be put over by the instructor.) 
The recitation is of little value in this work. Questioning 
along development lines is often of value and the discussion, 
guided by the instructor, will find considerable place, especially 
in criticizing practice teaching and in the work on instructional 
management. 

Supplementary Material. This may be of three kinds. 
Exercises, problems, and questions. For the work in lesson 
planning and in the analysis and classification of trade content, 
certain forms, some of which are suggested in the material, 
have proved helpful in guiding the man's thinking. Similar 
forms of an exercise nature (as for the analysis of jobs) have 
also been of value for the same reason. A number of situa- 
tions which come up in instructing under industrial conditions 
can be presented as questions, and, provided that they illus- 
trate actual situations, are of great value in promoting dis- 
cussion. Use of "supplementary reading books" is not 
likely to be desirable. If well worked out such problems and 
exercises can be used for out-of-class work. 

Homework. It is often possible to start a man in the class 
and after he has "got to going" let him finish up the work at 
home and then submit it to the instructor for criticism. This 
is especially true of the classification work in block 1, the lesson 
planning work and the working up of the card catalog of jobs. 
All such work done at home saves time in the class. Under 
good management a great deal of time can be saved in this 
way. 

General Objectives. However the work is carried on it 
must be remembered that its purpose is not to impart infor- 



USE OF MATERIAL IN INSTRUCTOR TRAINING COURSES 357 

mation but to train a man so that he can apply the principles 
of effective training in actual instruction on jobs. This 
result will be obtained in proportion as the man, not the 
instructor, does the work. As a result of this training work 
each block represents the development of some degree of ability 
to do certain things. These may be called general objectives. 
In block one the general objectives are to develop power to 
analyze and classify the given trade. In block two to give 
command of the general instructional processes under the 
conditions of industral training. In block three to train 
each man to rearrange the jobs that he analyzed out in block 
one into an effective instructional order based upon the 
principles of progression. In block four to train him in 
handling a group under instructional conditions as he will 
meet them in practice. 

These general objectives are, of course, made up of groups of 
minor objectives, which should be self evident to the instructor. 

Practice Teaching. For effective results this work should 
include practice teaching. Fairly satisfactory results have 
been obtained by requiring each man to plan and teach at 
least five distinct teaching units in connection with block two, 
and, in connection with the work in instructional manage- 
ment, to require him to take charge of a group of learners 
for a total of forty hours. 

All practice teaching, of course, should be under observation 
and criticism by the instructor and, in general by other mem- 
bers of the group as well. 

Under ordinary conditions such practice teaching is often 
difficult to secure but its value is so great that every effort 
should be made to include at least some of it in the course. 
A poor substitute is to have practice lessons put over by one 
man to the other members of his group, although this may be 
sometimes used to advantage in giving a man a chance to 
"take a few practice shots" before he tries the actual practice 
teaching. 

Methods of Conducting Practice Teaching. Where the 
training work is conducted in the plant it should be possible to 
arrange for practice teaching in the plant, if plans 1 or 2b 



858 THE INSTRUCTOR 

(see page 351) are followed. In evening or other leisure time 
classes it is exceedingly difficult to secure practice teaching. 
One plan that has been followed with some success has been to 
utilize evening trade schools for this work where such schools 
have been in session. 

Practice teaching should be given in connection with two 
blocks of the training course. In connection with lesson 
planning each man should put over to actual learners at least 
five individual teaching units. In connection with instruc- 
tional management he should, if possible, spend several days 
in charge of a group. 

Practice teaching is of little value unless carried on under 
observation and constructive criticism. In the practice on 
individual lessons indicated above an excellent plan is to 
follow the Normal School practice and have the work of each 
man in turn observed by the other members of his group, and 
to follow each lesson by a group discussion. Full time work 
with the group must, of course, be observed by the instructor 
and his criticism made the basis of conference with each man. 



APPENDIX 



359 



APPENDIX 

A. THE USE OF THIS MATERIAL BY FOREMEN 

The Foreman and Training. Although the independent 
training department is the more efficient organization, as condi- 
tions exist in many plants, the foreman of a shop is responsible 
for the training that is given there. If there is any training by 
intention, he has to carry the heavy load of getting out produc- 
tion, "running his shop" and of training as well. Whether he 
carries on the training work himself, or whether he puts the 
actual work of instruction into the hands of instructors, he 
should know what constitutes good instruction, if the training 
work is to be well done. If he gives the training himself, he 
must know how to do a good instructing job. If he has instruc- 
tors, he must know whether they are or are not giving good 
instruction. In either case, he certainly should know the points 
in the instructing game. 

Many foremen have had considerable experience in training 
help. Many such men, while they know that they have suc- 
ceeded in putting over the training, are conscious that something 
has not been just right they have known that while they knew 
the jobs to be taught (or their instructors knew them), many 
new men failed to "catch on" readily, seemed to progress very 
slowly, were "dumb," and often never seemed to get so that 
they could do a first class job. Sometimes, a good many of 
the men in training would quit before they were trained, giving 
all sorts of reasons, and so increasing the turnover. 

The trouble, of course, lies in the fact that, whether whoever 
gave the instruction was or was not a first class man on his 
job, he did not know "how to put it over." He may have 
known his own game but he did not know the instructing game. 
He did not know the instructing operations, the instructing 
methods. He did not know how to distinguish between the 
learning difficulties that a green man has to overcome and the 
production difficulties that a competent workman has to over- 
come. He did not know that a man who is learning how to do 
a job is a very different sort of a fellow from a man who is 
doing that same job. 

361 



362 APPENDIX 

Foremen, who find themselves in this situation, will find 
that this book gives them a number of pointers on "how to 
put it over" to better advantage. If they will practice putting 
into operation the suggestions that are made as to analyzing 
what is to be taught, using the instruction process in the train- 
ing work and seeing that the training conditions are the best for 
the differ nt instructing jobs that have to be done, they will be 
surprised to find how much better things will go and how much 
quicker learners will be trained. 

The best way to use the suggestions that are made and the 
methods described, is to work them out in practice in the train- 
ing work. Simply reading them will not do much good. Put 
over a lesson to a learner, see how it is done, and compare the 
way it was done with the way it should be done according to 
the instructions. Plan that lesson accordingly and try it 
again. If it goes better, think why. See how the order in 
which learners get different jobs or operations squares with an 
effective order as determined by learning difficulties by the 
method described. Make a study of learning difficulties and 
see if an instructing order based on them does not give quicker 
training results and reduce turnover. Look at the conditions 
under which the different training jobs are carried on. See 
if they are good or poor conditions for training. If they are 
not good, change them and see if things go better. Of course 
the general principles described, and the general suggestions 
made, must be worked out in practice for each shop, or each trade, 
according to the requirements of that sort of a job and according 
to conditions in that particular plant, that is. They must be 
applied in practice in the particular way that will give the best 
results in any given case. Practice is the only way by which 
any one can learn to do this. 

The attention of foremen is particularly drawn to the fact 
that the principles of good instruction can be effectively applied 
to a much wider range of work than is often thought possible. 
This is especially true in what are often called semi-skilled jobs. 
Recent experience has shown that there are few of these jobs 
where training organized and carried out in accordance with the 
principles of good instruction will not result in training new 
workers more rapidly, make better workers of them and in- 
crease their stability after they are trained. Just as in 
relatively short jobs it pays to use the best tools, machines, and 
the most effective operations, so even in semi-skilled jobs it 
pays to use the best instructing methods. In both cases, the 



APPENDIX 863 

supervisor who can do this, or can get it done, will secure 
greater efficiency. 

It is a mistake to think that the principles and methods 
described can only be used in training for "skilled" trades. 
With the exception of the fact that no instructional order of 
jobs is called for the principles and methods of good instruc- 
tion will apply just as much to instruction on single jobs (as in 
a munition factory) as in regular trade training. The jobs can 
be analyzed, the teaching points determined, and arranged in 
the best instructing order. All the points in effective instruc- 
tional management will apply just as well here as in training 
in more "skilled work." 

B. THE USE OF THIS MATERIAL BY INSTRUCTORS FOR SELF 

TRAINING 

The Instructor and Self Training. An instructor has the 
direct job of putting over the training. As an instructor he is 
really following a new trade instructing. This is a trade by 
itself. Of course an instructor must know his own trade that 
is absolutely necessary, but, if he is going to do a good job in his 
new trade he must also know the "tricks" of that trade. The 
following suggestions are made to instructors who may wish to 
use this book and who cannot take advantage of a training 
course, that is, they wish to train themselves. 

Simply reading the book will be of little help. The instruc- 
tions, the methods, and the suggestions must be worked out on 
the instructor's own job. He must apply them in his own line. 
He must work things out for himself. 

This being understood, the following suggestions may be of 
value : 

(1) Take a job on which training is being given. Analyze 
it (Part I, Chapter II). Now find a good man that is 
doing that job (not a learner, but a first class man) 
and check up what he actually does. Compare your 
"check list" by observation with your analysis from 
memory. See how near the two agree. You will prob- 
ably find that your "memory list" was incomplete. 
Try some other jobs in the same way. Practice this 
until you can make a good analysis. 

(2) Now practice analyzing out a teaching unit. Determine 
the successive teaching points in one job. See if they are 
too many for one "bite." If so, determine how teaching 



364 APPENDIX 

the whole job can be broken up into two or more " lessons " 
of about the right length. Try it on a learner and see. 

(3) Now practice making out a skeleton plan for instructing 
on that job. The analysis and the layout as described 
in Part VI, Chapter XXIX. Try following this plan in 
teaching this job to a learner. See how it goes. If it goes 
well, all right, if not, consider what the matter is, make 
a new plan and try again. Do the same with other jobs. 

(4) Now practice selecting the best methods for putting 
over a given teaching unit, following |the discussion in 
Part V, and lay out a general operation sheet from your 
skeleton plan (Part V). Try this out, and if, after trial, 
you think you can improve it, change it and try it out 
again. Practice in this way until you can choose good 
methods for the different jobs to be taught. 

(5) Now, practice getting out a few detailed operation 
sheets, as illustrated in Part VI. Try these out. It 
pays to work these detailed sheets out until you can 
put in the detail without any written memorandum when 
you instruct from a skeleton layout. 

(6) Now, analyze what you have to put over and classify it 
according to Part II. 

(7) If your work calls for instruction on more than one job, 
make a skeleton layout for each job, get out a general 
operation sheet and put in the necessary auxiliary in- 
formation by the method described in Part III, Chapter 
XIII. 

Now consider learning difficulties, lay out the progression 
factor table for the blocks, get out the type job specifica- 
tions and lay out the jobs in an effective instructional 
order, as in Part III. (It is best to make a card cata- 
logue.) Try this instructional order out in practice. If 
it can be improved determine what is the matter with it, 
change it, and try again. 

(8) The suggestions in Parts VII and VIII must be simply 
worked out in practice in connection with the instruction 
work. Pay especial attention to finding the "economical 
size" of instruction groups, and to the determination of 
the best instructional conditions (Part VIII, Chapter XLI). 

If you are concerned with trade extension work or apprentice 
training, the suggestions in Part VIII should be of special value. 
These suggestions are for the benefit of an instructor who is so 



APPENDIX 365 

situated that he must train himself. It is only fair to say that, 
under these conditions, it would be a pretty difficult piece of 
work. If an instructor can take advantage of a training course 
it is of very great advantage, because he gets the assistance of a 
competent teacher, a man who knows the teaching trade. 

C. SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT TERMS USED IN 
PARTS I, II, IH 

Analysis. (Trade) . Listing out all the things that the learner 
must be taught if he is to be taught the complete trade. 

Assembling Jobs. (Trades). Jobs that call for the putting 
together of parts that some other workers have turned out, 
arranged in some determined relation to each other. 

Auxiliary Material. Information that a man is expected to 
have in his possession and to use in doing his job, but which 
he is not directly paid for using. (Safety precautions, trade 
terms, care of tools, etc.) 

Block. A group of teaching jobs having a common set of 
learning difficulties. 

Block Progression Method. An order of jobs derived by 
drawing the instruction line from the bottom to the top of 
two or more independent blocks in succession. (Used only for 
independent blocks.) 

Block Base. The determining cause of the learning difficul- 
ties. (Operations, machines, construction, etc.) 

Checking Levels. Points on a difficulty scale at which the 
relative degree of the different progression factors are deter- 
mined. 

Classified Content. What is to be put over arranged under 
classification headings, as production jobs, trade terms, etc. 

Checking Level Specifications. The statement of the inten- 
sity of the progression factors at any given degree on the 
difficulty scale. 

Course of Instruction. An instructional operation sheet for 
instructing a learner in a trade or any part of a trade. 

Difficulty Scale. A layout of degrees of intensity of progres- 
sion factors. 

Effective Instructional Order. An order of teaching jobs 
arranged according to a difficulty scale so that learning and 
instructional difficulties are reduced to a minimum. 

Forming Jobs. (Trade). The stock is formed by some 
method, but its shape is not changed. 



366 APPENDIX 

Independent Blocks. Blocks in which learner can be put 
through one block without using anything contained in another 
block. 

Instructor. A competent producer whose job is to put over 
what he knows. 

Instructing by Subjects. The auxiliary is organized in 
"courses of instruction" and is "taught'* by subjects. 

Instructing by Tying Up. The special auxiliary information 
and knowledge that comes into play on a given job is given to 
the learner when he is instructed in that job. 

Instructional Difficulties. Difficulties that tend to prevent 
rapid learning or cause imperfect learning. 

Instruction Line. A line drawn through an instructional 
layout to indicate the order in which a learner is to be routed 
through the different teaching jobs. 

Instructional Order. The order in which the teaching jobs 
in a course of instruction are arranged. (May apply to a 
block or to an entire course of instruction.) 

Job. Anything that a man is paid for doing. 

Multiblock Trade. A trade in which the instructional order 
breaks up into more than one block. 

Occupational Dangers. Dangers that go with a given trade 
and that no amount of care will entirely remove, though they 
can be reduced to a minimum. The danger "goes with the 
job." (Diving, working in a powder plant, working with high 
tension currents.) 

Product. The result of doing a production job. 

Production Job. Any job that results in affecting stock or in 
fixing parts in a determined relation to each other. 

Productional Difficulties. Difficulties that tend to prevent 
rapid production or poor work. 

Progression Factors. Causes of learning difficulties that 
must be taken into consideration in laying out a progressive 
course of training. 

Progression Factor Table. A layout of progression factors 
from minimum to maximum. 

Putting Over. Teaching : instructing. 

Real Jobs. Actual jobs that approximate to type jobs in 
their characteristics as determined from the difficulty scale. 

Related Blocks. Blocks where knowledge and training in 
one block will help the learner in going through another block. 

Service Jobs. A job that makes the getting out of produc- 
tion easier, cheaper or more rapid. 



APPENDIX 367 

Shaping Jobs (Trades). Jobs that change the form to the 
stock but not the shape. 

Single Block Trade. A trade in which the instructional 
order breaks up into only one block. 

Spiral Method. An order of jobs derived by drawing the 
instruction line through all number one jobs in two or more 
independent blocks, then through number two jobs and so on. 
(Used only for independent blocks.) 

Technical Jobs. A job that is a necessary step in the getting 
out of a production job but which, in itself, does not result in 
affecting stock. Generally calls for the use of either drawing 
or mathematics. 

Trade Drawing (Technical Jobs). Jobs calling for the use of 
blueprint sketches, etc. 

Trade Mathematics (Technical Jobs). Jobs calling for the 
use of some form of mathematics. 

Type Jobs. Imaginary jobs that correspond exactly to the 
specifications for any degree on the difficulty scale. 

SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT TERMS IN PARTS IV, V, VI 

In order to facilitate the use of this material in units these 
terms are grouped by parts. 

Aim (of lesson). The exact purpose for which the lesson is 
taught. 

Application (step 3 in the lesson). (1) Training the learner 
to apply what he has been taught in step 2. (2) Locating 
"weak spots" and correcting them. 

Concentration. Sticking to the particular teaching unit 
that is to be put over. Not getting "side tracked" during the 
progress of the lesson. 

Conciseness. Same as concentration. 

Content (of lesson). The teaching unit. 

Demonstration (method for step 2). Showing a man how 
to do the job with the actual tools, processes, etc., or by the trade 
methods. Showing him the "real thing." 

Derived Lesson. A lesson in which the teaching base 
can be developed from things or ideas which the instructor 
knows that he has already taught to the learner in previous 
lessons. 

Development (line of approach in handling a lesson). 
Leading the learner to "get" the lesson, by thinking from point 
to point. 



368 APPENDIX 

Discussion (method for step 3). The group and the in- 
structor discuss the teaching unit. From this discussion, the 
instructor determines "weak points" and corrects them during 
the discussion. He also judges as to whether the men can or 
cannot apply, from what goes on in the discussion. 

Effective Order (in presentation). The order in which the 
ideas in the teaching unit are presented to the learner, or ar- 
ranged so that the learner goes from one new idea to the next 
with the least difficulty. 

Elementrary Lesson. A lesson requiring a teaching base 
derived from some things or ideas which the learner has acci- 
dentally "picked up" somewhere before he is instructed in this 
particular teaching unit. 

Examination (method for steps 3 or 4). The instructor 
uses "sampling" questions asked at random or intended to 
"hit the high spots." 

Experiment (method for step 2). Letting the learner "dope 
out" the correct method or procedure by himself. 

Informational (line of approach in handling a lesson). 
When the instructing step is conducted on the basis of the 
instructor's giving information to the learner or the learner 
giving information to the instructor. 

Instructor. A man who knows how to do things but is paid 
to put them over to somebody else. 

Job. Anything that a man is paid to do. 

Jumping-Off Point (J. O. P.). The point in his thinking 
where the learner "jumps" from what he knows (step 1) to 
what he does not know and is to be taught (step 2). 

Learner. The individual who is to be instructed. 

Lecture (method for step 2). Passing out the information. 
Telling. 

Lesson. The entire procedure followed in instructing a 
learner, or putting over some specific thing that is to be taught 
(a teaching unit). 

Lesson Plan. A plan for a lesson worked out on paper. 
Consists of (a) An analysis of the lesson for steps 1 and 2; (b) 
an operation sheet. 

Methods. The instruction devices or "tools" used to "put 
through" the different instruction steps. 

Operation Sheet. An "operation sheet" for carrying out 
the lesson. (Includes line of approach, class of lesson, methods 
etc.) 

Preparation. The first step in the lesson. Its purpose to 



APPENDIX 369 

establish a foundation. It adds nothing to what the learner 
knows or can do. 

Written Recitation (method for step 3 or 4). The men 
answer questions in writing instead of orally. 

Presentation. The second step in the lesson. The step in 
which the learner is given (presented to) the teaching unit. 
This is where all new ideas are put over. 

Primary Lesson. Same as elementary. 

Production Job. A job that results in the working up of 
stock. 

Production Lesson or Teaching Unit. A lesson or teaching 
unit on a production job. 

Pupil. School teacher's term for a learner. 

Recitation (method for steps 3 and 4). The instructor 
asks a series of questions in order to find out how thoroughly 
the learners (or the learner) have "got" the lesson or the 
teaching unit, and also to see if they can apply it in practice. 

Steps (in the lesson or the instructional process). Consist of 
(1) preparation, (2) presentation, (3) application, (4) testing or 
(inspection). 

Subject (of lesson). The teaching unit. What is to be 
taught. 

Suggestive Demonstration. A demonstration used to secure a 
teaching base for step 1 where the learner has no ideas or experi- 
ences which can be used to get a J. O. P. It may be combined 
with suggestive questions. 

Suggestive Illustration. An illustration used in the same way. 

Suggestive Questions. Questions asked so as to use "key 
ideas." 

Teaching Base. The ideas which the instructor uses to get 
the J. O. P. 

Teaching Unit. The particular thing or job which is to be 
put over in any given lesson (step 2). 

Technical Job. A job that does not result in the working up 
of stock but is a necessary step in the doing of a production job. 

Technical Lesson (or teaching unit). A lesson on a technical 
job. 

Test. A written recitation (method for step 3 or 4). 

Testing (step 4 in the lesson). The step in which the in- 
structor determines by "inspection" that the lesson has been 
thoroughly taught. 

Trade Intelligence. The power to "use your head on the 
job." The result of instruction followed by training. 
24 



370 APPENDIX 

Testing on the Job. Putting the learner, who has been in- 
structed, up against the actual job (technical or production) 
to see if he can do it. (Method for steps 3 and 4). 

SOME OF THE MORE IMPORTANT TERMS USED IN PARTS VH 

AND vm. 

Allied Trades. One which contains a large proportion of 
trade knowledge and skill that can be used for another given 
trade. 

Attention. Attention is a sort of "instantaneous" interest, 
which is usually attracted by something uncommon or unex- 
pected or startling. 

By-Product. A product which is obtained during the process 
of producing the thing that a concern is in business to produce. 

Checking Records. Records kept for the special purpose of 
checking up the work of a training department, in any given 
line, as when an instructor consults his progression chart in 
order that he may determine what sort of a job should be given 
next. 

Class Instruction. A group organization under which all 
the members of a group are to be taught the same lesson at 
the same time. 

Conversion Base. The knowledge, skill, and experience in a 
man's old trade that he can use in a new trade. 

Conversion Training. The training which consists in giving 
a competent workman in one job or trade such additional 
knowledge, skill, and training as will enable him to work effect- 
ively at another job or trade. 

Coordinators. Representatives of the Training Department 
and the Production Departments whose business is to attend to 
the filling of requisitions for work drawn by the Training De- 
partment upon the Production Departments. The men are 
designated as Training Coordinators and Production Coordina- 
tors respectively. 

Cooperative Relations. Relations which depend for their 
effectiveness largely on the mutual understanding and good 
will of the cooperating parties but which do not include specific 
responsibilities for getting a certain job done. 

Credentials. Evidence as to past experiences trade experi- 
ences on different sorts of work, schools attended, written 
opinion of others as to ability, etc. 

Demonstration Material. Any material or apparatus used 



APPENDIX 371 

in connection with the putting over of a lesson by the use of the 
demonstration method. 

Efficiency Records. Data secured for the purpose of improv- 
ing the efficiency of any piece of work, as when the time required 
to train for the same job by different instructors is compared in 
order to find out the best methods. 

Elastic Admission. An arrangement whereby an instructor 
can take a man at any time and start him on a training course 
without regard to where any of the rest of the group are on their 
progression through the same course. 

General Material. Material that is of general use in instruc- 
tional work, but which does not especially apply to the require- 
ments of any particular teaching job; blackboards, reference 
books, etc. 

Group Instruction. Instruction given to a gang which con- 
sists of sub-groups in which the members of each sub-group 
can be instructed in the same thing at the same time. 

Illustrative Material. Any material or apparatus used in 
connection with the putting over of a lesson by the use of the 
illustration method. 

Inside Work. Work that is carried on under cover either in 
some place specially provided for the purpose, (a "school 
room") or on the floor of the shop. 

Instructional Engineer. An instructional engineer is an 
individual who goes at an instructional problem in the same 
manner as a production engineer goes at a production 
problem. 

Instructional Material. Anything that can be used in the 
instructional process: books, tools or models. 

Instructor as Instructor. An instructor looked at from 
the standpoint of his work in putting over what is to be 
taught. 

Instructor as Supervisor. An instructor looked at from the 
standpoint of his work in keeping the instructional work 
going, with the entire instruction gang. 

Interest. Whatever makes the learner want to learn. 

Justification Records. Records showing whether or not any 
given piece of training work is worth doing; as, for example, 
when it is desired to determine whether rivet sorters can be 
trained to advantage. 

Non-Production Instructional Material. All material or 
apparatus used in connection with the putting over a lesson 
off the job, as in the use of the demonstration or illustration 



372 APPENDIX 

methods as described, and any general material that cannot 
be classified as working material. 

Outside Work. Work carried on outdoors in the yard or on 
the ship. 

Paying Apprentices. An apprentice who to a greater or less 
extent pays for his keep through the value of his labor. 

Personal Interview. Any sort of a "talk" which will enable 
an instructor to get a line on a prospective learner's qualifica- 
tions. 

Poor Instruction. The result of doing an inefficient instruct- 
ing job. 

Poor Learner. A man who, if all other causes of failure were 
removed, would still fail to make good. 

Poor Management. Failure of the instructor to meet any or 
all of the conditions of good management, especially in his rela- 
tions with his men, bad handling of interest factors, etc. 

Rotary Gang. A group organization in which the instructor 
always has a group of the same size; this requires that as soon 
as a man is discharged from the group another man comes in, 
so that the group consists of men in all stages of progression 
but is always full. 

School Discipline. This means the discipline maintained 
in an ordinary school as distinguished from the sort of discipline 
maintained in a good production plant. 

Seminar. An instructional organization under which the 
different men in a group, while each working on specified pro- 
blems, come together with the instructor at frequent stated 
intervals for discussions and reports. 

Supervisor. A man who directs and is responsible for the 
activities of a gang; quarterman, leading hand, foreman, assist- 
ant, superintendent. 

Supervisory Training. The training given to men to fit them 
for some form of supervisory work. 

Trade Extension Training. The training given to a man 
who is already somewhat advanced in his particular work to 
extend his trade knowledge or his trade skill, or both, as the 
case may be. 

Trade Training. The training which gives to a man who 
does not know or who cannot do anything in a given trade, 
that which he needs so that he does know and can do the things 
which constitute that trade. 

Training Gang. A group of men to be trained by an in- 
structor or "training boss." 



APPENDIX 378 

Working Material. Any material that is used in doing an 
instructional production job. Example: a bulkhead on which 
a man is being trained to rivet constitutes working material. 

Working Relations. Relations which result from the neces- 
sity of discharging mutual responsibilities. 



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